


Heart Of Iron

by YunaYamiMouto



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: 14 000 605+, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Arc Reactor, Asgard, Battle of the ages, Blame the Infinity Stones, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death Fix, Child Death, Comic Book Science, Comic References, Dealing with it once and for all, F/M, Female Tony Stark, Fix-It, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Ghosts, Hydra (Marvel), Infinity Gems, It Ain't Easy, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, It's a bit messed up okay, Kamar-Taj (Marvel), M/M, Magic, Major Character Death - sort of but not really, Major fix-it, Male-Female Friendship, Mid-Cannon, Multiverse, Not Canon Compliant, Not Really Character Death, Or reincarnation, Past Lives, Post original Avengers: Endgame, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Canon, Reunion, Some Supernatural Elements, Some angst, Sorry Not Sorry, Souls, Time - Freeform, Time Travel Fix-It, Transmigration - sort of, Wakanda, argument, cycles, fight, or whatever, some gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:42:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 67,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25003327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YunaYamiMouto/pseuds/YunaYamiMouto
Summary: Stephen is really proud of how fast he's learning after he makes his first portal but then comes the astral projection that changes his life forever as he comes face to face with a force from a universe not his own and an ancient relic that will change the fate of his world.
Relationships: Ancient One & Stephen Strange, Ancient One & Tony Stark, Edwin Jarvis & Tony Stark, Friday & Tony Stark, Frigga | Freyja & Tony Stark, Happy Hogan & Pepper Potts & James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Hela & Loki & Thor (Marvel), Hela (Marvel) & Tony Stark, Infinity Gems & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) & Tony Stark, Loki & Tony Stark, Nick Fury & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Stephen Strange & Cloak of Levitation, Stephen Strange & Wong, Tony Stark & Ho Yinsen, Tony Stark & Stark Robots, Tony Stark & Stephen Strange, Tony Stark & Thanos, Tony Stark & Thor, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Comments: 159
Kudos: 249
Collections: BAMF, interesting tony





	1. Chapter 1

Stephen Vincent Strange, formerly the top doctor and neurosurgeon at Metro General in New York, relatively recently homeless and broke, growled in frustration for the fifth time that night, glaring at the book in his lap and restraining the urge to throw it at his wall. Not only would it wake up his neighbor but Wong the librarian who cannot laugh will undoubtedly have his heart for breakfast if he damages the ancient tome. Still, he couldn't help his agitation. He will no doubt only have tonight to study the three books he took on astral projecting before Wong comes and demands them back, possibly while wiping the floor with him. Sure, Stephen knew he was good for a beginner, but Wong had been training for years and was a Master. The former doctor was no longer as arrogant as he had once been. He knew he was still near the bottom of the food chain that existed within Kamar-Taj.

If anyone had told him just a couple of months ago that he would one day be sitting in a real life Hogwarts, pouting petulantly at a magical book in the middle of the night, he would have booked them an immediate, high priority appointment with him and a possible surgery to try and take the stupid out. Now, after a car accident that ruined his once steady hands and his prospering career and he burned all of his money on useless surgeries, he found himself indeed in the above mentioned situation. He had come to Kamar-Taj to heal his hands and had instead found magic and a mentor whom he greatly respected. Possibly even two new friends. Those were rare for him. Everyone kept saying he was very gifted at the Mystic Arts and that, the speed at which he was learning, he'll be a Master soon enough. No one has yet to tell him when he'll be able to fix his hands, though.

Everyone said he was doing extremely well and yet Strange didn't feel like he was doing good at all. He knew that it was because he lacked practical experience and the amount of time the others have been studying and training, but that didn't help abate his frustration at all. It had taken him what felt like forever to open a portal, something everyone did rather casually, and now it was taking him forever to learn entering the Astral Plane. Wong had said it was a higher, more complicated form of magic that he was not yet ready for. Perhaps he had been right. But Stephen had always been a fast learner and he refused to let anyone limit his ability to learn, even if it was only in time and most probably for his own good. Despite being a doctor, he had never actually been particularly good at taking care of himself beyond keeping himself healthy enough to work and look good. He was a workaholic, hence the late hour at which he was still at this.

Then again, if he could just _do this_ , time would be practically limitless for his studies. He could just put his body to rest when it felt tired and his astral projection could pop up and read all night long. Thank whatever higher force, if it even existed, for his photographic memory. It made learning new languages and spells that much easier and yet astral projecting was _still_ kicking his ass.

_'Okay. Calm down, Stephen. Remember. You have to focus. Clear your thoughts and open your mind.'_ He took deep, steadying breaths, trying to calm his heart to its slowest rate as he tried to reach out to the energies that would help him leave his body in the physical realm while roaming around in the Astral one. He was still so fascinated by the mere ability to perceive something beyond his five senses. He had never truly believed that they knew their world but this was completely different from all the conspiracy theories about aliens walking among them or some crap like that. This was so much more fascinating. It was like having the secrets of the universe at his fingertips and Stephen wanted to _learn_. The Ancient One, his more often than not teacher and the leader of Kamar-Taj, was right when she said he had been chasing knowledge all of his life. Kamar-Taj had so much to offer it was _ridiculous_. Stephen has no doubt he'll be hesitant to leave once he heals himself. Though it's not as if he has to leave _permanently_. With the portals he'd mastered, he could go between New York and Nepal in a matter of seconds. He can work by day and then study at night _if only he could get this stupid astral projection right_!

He felt a sudden pull he couldn't understand, let alone describe with words, before he found himself looking down at his body. Unlike the first time this happened, when the Ancient One had 'made a believer of him', he didn't panic. He just looked down at his glowing, transparent _steady_ hands and laughed as he realized he had done it! Take _that_ , Wong! Though he'll probably never dare say something of that nature to the Asian sorcerer for fear of what he might do in retaliation. He still didn't have a good read on the man, despite all the months he had spent here.

"Okay, let's see what I can do like this," he muttered to himself, excitement spiking as he checked on his body one last time - the book said some people go into cardiac arrest if they're not careful the first time they preform the feat - before he exited his room by opening a door. He wasn't about to try running through until he was sure of his state of presence and solidity in this form. One might laugh at him for thinking a literal ghost can be influenced by solid objects, but this wasn't some kiddy movie. It was real life, as unbelievable as it may seem. If he can open the door with his hand, who's to say he won't knock himself unconscious or back into his body if he were to try running through a wall. You can't run before you walk. Whoever said that had to be a reckless idiot with no self preservation instincts. _'Do I even know someone who could have said that? Huh. Feels like I should.'_ But he shook off the weird thoughts and focused back on his walk through the Astral Plane.

It was pretty surreal, walking through the halls like this. Everything seemed kind of muted, given how he himself seemed to be slightly illuminated by his own life energy and the magic he pulled. He knows that he can be completely removed from the physical realm, as though he were truly just a lost, wandering soul, if he used less magic, but he didn't like the idea of not being able to influence things around him. He noted that even other sorcerers he saw floating about in the Astral Plane weren't glowing as brightly as he did and wondered if he was doing something wrong to stick out so much. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something that seemed to be glowing even brighter than him, fleeting just beyond his line of sight before he could see it no more, at all. Frowning, the doctor - he _still_ had his M. D. and PhD, thank you very much - turned to follow, now on high alert. He opened his 'inner eye' and looked around. He could sense some powerful energies somewhere nearby and yet he couldn't find a source. He followed his senses and soon found himself in front of a locked vault, shinning with magic.

That wasn't out of place, though. All the texts that he's read on the Astral Realm suggests that all those who enter it can perceive all forms of magic currently active or dormant much more easily and accurately than in the physical world. The amount of charms, wards and runes surrounding this vaulted room, though ... He wasn't sure if he should compare it to the sun because it was that bright. But what fascinated him more was that there was another type of energy just beyond all the seals that he could make out despite the light show the protective spells made. It's light was like nothing Stephen had seen before, a beautiful electric blue, almost like a bolt of thunder and yet gentler. At least in color. He had no doubt the energy he was sensing could be dangerous if used incorrectly. And yet, he felt like it was calling to him. He reached out, unthinking, and was suddenly yanked back just as a warning blast came from the protective spells. The outburst was small, truly just a warning, but it could have hurt him. He turned to thank whoever had saved him, half expecting it to be the Ancient One or maybe Mordo, only to find hos breath knocked out of him when his eyes fell on his savior.

She was _beautiful_ , that was the only thing his mind could focus on. And it wasn't just the sharp, intelligent doe eyes, thick lashes, plump lips, a figure to make models jealous and a booty to drive anyone insane. No, it was what her energy showed. The Astral Realm allowed whoever entered it to observe the energies of things and beings in the physical realm. It allowed them to get a read on their personality and character and tell if they are trying to tell a lie or keep a secret. What he saw in the woman before him was extraordinary. She was just _so bright_ , her entire form coated in the same shade of blue energy as the one he had glimpsed and the one burning on the other side of the sealed doors. She came up to about his neck, all compact strength, judging from the look of her lightly defined biceps, had piercing eyes and a very pretty face. He couldn't make out much details about her, given she was literally completely covered in the blue energy. He could only tell she probably had darker hair, brown or black, and eyes. She was brighter than Stephen by a large margin and there was something in her eyes ... Something Strange couldn't quite place that honestly terrified him. She didn't seem malicious or anything. It was just ... This feeling of unbearable and impossible _ancientness_ to her that he had only ever seen in the Ancient One and yet this woman made _her_ look like a baby.

"Wh-"

"Are you crazy?" The woman snapped before he could even finish his question. "You could have been killed! No one goes in there without the Sorcerer Supreme! Only suicidal idiots try and it's just my luck that I found one."

Whatever fascination he felt for the woman was replaced with irritation, making him snap right back before he could think through his response. "Who are you calling idiot, douchebag?"

"You, you asshole!" The two continued glaring at each other for what felt like eternity before the annoyance cleared from the woman's face and she let go of his arm. How she had known not to grab his hand or wrist, Stephen didn't have time to ponder as his companion spoke. "Your that new wunderkind, aren't you? The doctor." He liked how she didn't say former doctor but he was still pissy about their exchange from a moment ago.

"What's it to you?"

She only huffed in exasperation, rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. He only now noticed that the light in that area seemed to be the brightest. Some sort of energy was coming from a triangular source right over her heart. "Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you but I _have_ just saved your life. Can we start over?"

Stephen felt his own irritation diminish in face of how rational and mature she was being. And he _had_ to give it to her about the life saving bit. The defenses had leaped at him in a rather frightening manner when he had been inches away from touching them. "Doctor Stephen Strange. What's in there?"

"Toni and a powerful artifact no one can use, not even the Ancient One. That's why it's locked up in there, so no one is tempted."

The man arched an eyebrow at that, disregarding the lack of a last name - hey, he knew Wong. He knew this people weren't forthcoming with information they don't want to share. Better not waste time with it - and instead focusing on the absurdness of her other answer. "If no one can use it then why lock it up at all?"

"Just because no one can use it _now_ doesn't mean no one will be able to use it at a later point. Relics choose their own masters, especially if they are semi- or completely sentient."

"And what are relics?" It was Toni's turn to arch a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at that. "What?"

"I know you're new but you also seem like a smart guy. Why haven't your master and mentor told you about relics yet? You'll probably be ready to use the basic ones for training soon before you find one fit for you." At his continued blank face, Toni huffed and uncrossed her arms, instead summoning a wooden stick with an elaborately decorated head on each end. " _This_ is what I'm talking about. If you've reached the red robes level already, it's only a matter of days, maybe a couple of weeks, before you should be introduced to relics. How are your glyphs?"

"My what?"

And the woman only rolled her eyes again at that. "Your hieroglyphs. You know, ancient Egypt and all that? How good are you?"

"I don't think Google Translate has a setting for that one."

Toni groaned but started rattling off a list of what he assumed to be books? Scrolls? Papyruses? Or was the correct plural form papyri? He tried to remember what she's saying but she was talking in a completely different language and he couldn't distinguish from the sound alone which or what words were used. However, when she finished, a piece of paper appeared in front of her and Toni took it in hand before thrusting it into his face. "Here. Books on ancient Egyptian and then books _in_ ancient Egyptian about artifacts. Don't let them give you some half-assed Persian or Chinese books that are _newer_ and _better_ on this topic. They're not. Ancient Egyptians knew their stuff and they knew artifacts - or relics, whatever rocks your boat - better than anyone. And _especially_ don't take Celtic ones. They're all specified for only Celtic relics and whatever the texts say, it won't help you with the generality of other relics."

"I rather doubt Wong will lend me any books after my stunt tonight." At her arched eyebrow and inquiring gaze, Stephen looked away as he admitted to taking books from the library through portals and even snatching up the book Wong himself had been reading just to get back at the man for not giving them to him in the first place. Toni laughed a twinkling laugh that left Stephen feeling warm inside.

"Oh my! I like you already! I wished I had been around to see the expression on his face. I bet it was _hilarious_." Stephen chuckled along while she tried to calm down, shaking his head.

"Something tells me Wong won't find it as funny."

The woman only snorted at that. "Appearances tend to be deceiving, Strange. Anyway, you should go back. If this is really your first time in the Astral Plane, you'll need to get used to being back in your body again before it's safe to go to sleep and Wong might just indeed kill you if you don't return those books post haste. Night, asshole." There was no bite in her words as she turned around and disappeared through a random wall. Soon enough, all traces of her presence disappeared and Stephen figured she must have gone back to her own body. He couldn't stop a grin from gracing his lips at the teasing farewell no matter how hard he tried. He could already tell he made a new possible friend tonight and he can't wait to seek her out in the morning.

"Night, douchebag."


	2. Chapter 2

Stephen frowned as he prepared for a sparring session with Mordo, mind still set on his weird conversation with the Ancient One just the day before. She had approached him about the forbidden use of portals in the library - because Wong had _snitched_ on him, the secret little Beyoncé fanboy, rocking it out to All The Single Ladies instead of guarding the library - and had shown him how to open the Mirror Dimension, but she had let it slip that the sorcerers were more than they were made out to be. Her grave warning about the secrets she holds and the number of sinister worlds coexisting beside their own left him on edge and wondering just _what_ he was actually doing here, beyond healing his hands. Asking Mordo about her had yielded little results. She's Celtic, kind yet merciless, patient but firm, her real age unknown. He had observed most of that on his own already. His main questions remain yet unanswered.

"Hey, focus," called Mordo, drawing his attention away from the bald woman and onto his friend and mentor. Stephen found him now brandishing a staff which greatly resembled the one Toni had pulled out to show him a week ago. He hadn't seen her since, nose buried in the scrolls and books she had recommended - and Wong had suspiciously handed over with brisk questions about how he even knew about them to begin with - and rarely leaving his room at night even though he entered the Astral Plane. "No more questions. Today, we introduce relics in your training."

Stephen hummed in half interest. "Do I get one?"

Mordo paused, momentarily thrown by the question. He had no doubt been expecting one, just not _that_ one. "That's a question."

"It's a fair question," Stephen fired back immediately. "We're about to spar and you have the advantage of two relics while I have none."

The other sorcerer was now only more confused. "How do you know what relics are and how many I possess?" Strange figured those were fair questions, too, considering he's still a novice. No one told him about relics, as far as the teachers knew. And it's not like Mordo's shoes clashed with the outfit he was wearing. Even the staff could have been any old piece of training equipment, considering they were taught martial as well as Mystic Arts. Stephen, in all reality, shouldn't have known. He wouldn't have, had he not met Toni. He still hadn't seen even a glimpse of her since that night, not in the dark or the light hours of the day. Kamar-Taj is a huge complex but one would think they'd run into each other at least once in a week's time.

"I read a book about them. It was quite fascinating."

Mordo eyed him suspiciously, no doubt having heard about how he was messing with Wong from time to time. "And do you have any questions regarding what you've read?"

"I thought you've said no more questions," he fired back and Mordo once again seemed surprised. Stephen knew not everyone can keep up with his wit - one of the many reasons he was so arrogant - but he wasn't sure why Mordo kept being surprised. Besides, his voice was full of dry humor. He was a funny person. Why did no one here find him funny? _'Well, except for Toni.'_ All the more reason to find her and have a normal, human conversation with her.

"I think this is rather important, Strange."

"If that's the case, then I do have one question," he decided, rolling his eyes at the amused look he got from the other man.

"Only one? Okay, let's hear it."

"The books mention sentient or semi-sentient relics." And he meant quite literally just _mention_. Like stating the fact they existed and nothing else was written about them. Not even in the scrolls Toni left him specific instructions to pay great attention to. He would have overlooked them entirely had Toni not brought them up in conversation and he grew curious. "I was wondering if you could tell me more about them. What made them sentient? Are they possessed?"

"That's more than one question."

"It's a part of the other question so it still pretty much counts as only one." Both men stared each other down before snorting at the ridiculousness of their discussion. "Well, not much is known about sentient or semi-sentient relics. They are often a product of aged magic and the care we give them. Some of them had been sentient long before we found them, so it is impossible to say whether a sorcerer _found_ a sentient relic or if they made one. Some relics _are_ possessed but most are only semi-sentient either way. An example would be the Eye of Agamotto, the Sorcerer Supreme's personal relic, very powerful and very ancient. Only few know the story behind it. The more sentient relics are the Cloak of Levitation and the Heart of Iron, both dangerous and choosing their master on their own. The Cloak of Levitation has once had a master and hasn't chosen a new one yet. It is a fickle thing. The Heart of Iron has yet to have a master, which I admit leaves us all anxious. It has existed as long as our order and even longer, but we know not its origins, its powers or the requirements to use them. We keep it out of sight, so no one is tempted. It is a dangerous, powerful weapon with unfathomable secrets."

"Is that the one in the sealed vault?" Stephen asks and instantly feels worry when Mordo snaps his head back to look at him fast enough for his neck to make a sound that is any neurosurgeon's or chiropractor's nightmare.

"I- How did you know?!" Well, it feels good to for once not be the bewildered one around here, Stephen muses to himself. It's been a while since he felt this confident in a conversation. He was a novice despite advancing the fastest after finally surrendering himself to the current of the energies of the multiverse. "Most Masters don't know where it is kept! The Ancient One herself is the only one who can get in there. Strange, I swear to Vishanti, if you've went in there-"

"I didn't! I came in front of it by following the energy it was emitting! I almost activated the protection wards but someone pulled me back and told me it was dangerous and explained why." He hurried to explain and defend himself, not really sure why he kept Toni's name out of it all. He had this urge to hog Toni all to himself and he won't rat her out if it would get her in trouble. He wants to talk to her again, not make sure they can never see each other again!

"Who?"

"Some woman. I don't know her name. She disappeared on me soon afterwards." If anything, Mordo looked even more ill at ease. He looked ready to have a panic attack any moment now. He was pacing like a caged tiger, cursing under his breath in three different ancient languages, one of which Stephen now recognized as ancient Egyptian. He winced at some of the things he said. "Am I in trouble?"

That snapped Mordo out of his cursing and pacing and he looked sharply up at Stephen. "I must consult the Ancient One of this. No one is to go to that part of Kamar-Taj without explicit orders or permission. You will be excused because no one has informed you of such, yet, so it is out fault as your teachers for not guiding you right. However, this business with this mysterious woman must be addressed. Did you see which way she went? No, scratch that. You said she disappeared. Can you tell me how? Describe what it looked like?"

"Um, there's not much I can tell you. We were in the Astral Plane and she just passed through a wall. A few seconds later, I couldn't feel her presence anywhere nearby so I can't tell you where she went or how she left."

"The Astral Plane?" Mordo asked, even more shocked now. "What did her aura look like? Could you find it if you were to enter it again and search?"

"I've spent every night this past week in the Astral Plane and I haven't seen her. But I don't think she's a threat. She was fairly calm and caring, all things considered. She called me an idiot and an asshole, though it was given since I nearly got myself killed on the protective wards and then called her douchebag instead of thanking her for saving my life. I can't tell you much of anything else except that she's either powerful or uses too much magic to astral project. She was really bright."

"At least it's probably one of our own and not a rogue sorcerer," Mordo sighed in somewhat relief but he still looked on edge. "I'll speak with the Ancient One after we're done here. So come on, Strange. Conjure a weapon."

It's probably because of Mordo's jitters and still foul mood that he laid in on him so bad. Stephen had held up as best as he could with what he knew, but Mordo was simply much stronger than him at this point. He knew he still had much to learn, though each and every day he spent here, the more hints he got these people weren't all they presented themselves to be, he felt more and more hesitant to continue his studies. He was a doctor! Why would he need to 'fight like his life defends on it'? The only thing he fights with is death, for his patients' lives. It was rather rude of them all to assume he'd ever pick a fight with someone. He had sworn the Hippocratic Oath. He wasn't going to break it anytime soon. Not even in self defense.

That night, he found he couldn't concentrate. He was in his astral projection and had a stack of books in front of him to read on object possession and magical sentience but he just _couldn't focus_. Everyone was acting really shifty the more he learned. He knew about Kaecillius and that everyone now looked upon _everyone_ with suspicion, which was getting exceedingly ridiculous. A lack of trust was weakening the order, something even a natural lone wolf like Stephen could understand. That's not something they need when there are so called zealots running around, killing poor, unsuspecting magical librarians for books containing vast, _dangerous_ , magical knowledge. _'How is this my life, again?'_ He had come to be healed and while he loved learning the depths of the Mystic Arts and the physical training that was now helping fill him out in all the right places, he still wanted to go back to being a doctor, to saving lives. He didn't feel like he was any closer to that goal than he had been when he started.

"Knock, knock," a somewhat familiar voice said out of nowhere and Stephen literally jumped through the ceiling of his room, a startled yelp escaping him. When he turned to look at the culprit, he felt both excitement and annoyance upon seeing a snickering Toni sitting cross-legged on his bed, her astral form shinning as brightly as ever. She looked as stunning as the last time he saw her but any details such as her hair or eye color were still as indistinguishable now as they were a week ago. Though, this time, Stephen took note of what she was wearing. _Normal clothes_. You don't see that often around Kamar-Taj. She wore a well worn AC/DC T-shirt, an MIT hoodie at least two sizes too big for her tied around her waist and some faded jeans. She was barefoot, which he found utterly odd, for some reason. She grinned when he scowled at her, not at all deterred. "Howdy, stranger."

"What are you doing here? This is my room!" Not that he overly minded but it's not like she needed to know that. Or that he'd been looking forward to speaking with her again.

Toni actually pouted at him for that, crossing her arms like a petulant child. "What? I came to see you. You never came back."

The doctor stared at her, a bit confused. "To the vault? You said it was dangerous!"

"And you didn't wander around after that, either."

"I tried finding you for the past seven days! Where were _you_?" Strange asked, crossing his own arms, challenging. Toni looked a bit put out by this, for some reason.

"I ... I can't wander around too much during the day. The Ancient One would get annoyed with me for possibly distracted the others and herself, even. Especially during meditation. The shift of energy as I move about attracts a lot of attention, whether I want it or not." She looked uncomfortable for a bit as she explained, but Stephen only found himself more perplexed.

"Then don't wander around in your astral projection." It sounded pretty simple and straightforward to him. After all, everyone moved about Kamar-Taj at their own schedule unless there was a class or training for the novices. The perks of it being the type of system where you advanced at your own speed and responsibility. No one forced you to study. If you want to succeed and prosper, you work your ass off until you are ready for further training. Stephen loved it. It allowed his workaholic side some reprieve after months of being unable to do anything but despair at the state of his hands.

Toni didn't seem to like the solution he suggested, hackles seeming to threaten to raise and defensiveness oozing from her in waves of actual fucking energy that left Stephen feeling like he was waist deep in an ocean or lake and the tide was pushing at him. That much at least answered his question about why her astral projection was so bright from a week ago. She was definitely powerful. "Look, I just can't. I won't explain it to you. You're still fairly new to all of this," she waved around them to encompass all of Kamar-Taj and Stephen had to agree with her there. He suspected she wouldn't tell him until he became a master and he was still only an acolyte right now. He still had a long way to go. "We can talk after you learn some spells that aren't basic. If you even stay long enough for that, that is."

"You think I can't make it?" He couldn't help the contempt in his voice at the insinuation that he'll fail. He never fails. He has a perfect record as a doctor to prove it. None of his patents died on his table, no matter how complicated the procedure.

"I think you want to bail as soon as you learn how to steady your hands." Toni sounded somewhere between sympathetic, bitter and spiteful at that, surprising the man, not just by her tone but also for how easily she had seen through him. "You wouldn't be the first one to take this knowledge and abandon the order completely afterwards, no matter how well needed their help might be."

"What makes you think I'll just leave?" Stephen wouldn't. Magic fascinated him. It was so much more complex than even the human brain, it seemed as though the possibilities were _endless_. And they probably were. There was so much he could learn. He was well aware he had only scratched the surface. He was already planning on how he was going to continue studying after he returns to the OR. He has no doubt it will be difficult but he refuses to give it up if it will save his purpose in life. Who says he can't be a doctor and a sorcerer at the same time?

But Toni just smiled sadly at him, as though reading his thoughts and knowing something he didn't. "You can't have the best of both worlds." Then, before he could ask what she meant by that, she levitated a book up in front of her, looking it over. "So, what's caught your interest now? The sentience of magic? Ooh, this is a good one!"

"Mordo introduced relics into my training today," he said by way of explanation. "I had some questions to which he didn't have detailed answers to, so I decided to do some research myself."

"Good choice. And what questions did you have that the _great Karl Mordo_ couldn't answer?" There was a snide tone as she said that, sounding once again bitter, only this time it was bordering with anger, not sadness. Stephen wondered if they had a history and was suddenly very glad that he hadn't told Mordo just whom told him about the relic locked up in the vault. Toni would have definitely gotten into trouble.

"I read the books you recommended for me, but I could find little on sentient or even semi-sentient artifacts. I asked him about it and he told me even the order itself knew very little about them in general, especially the two most powerful ones in our possession. He didn't even know to tell me how they become sentient, so I decided to try find an answer on my own."

"Say no more," the woman declared, letting the book fall on the bed. "You can read that later. For now, you're going to listen to me as I tell you a thing or two about the sentience, especially about sentience of magical relics or supposedly inanimate objects."

"Don't you have other things to do?" He wasn't even trying to be rude, even though it came out like that. In fact, he'd gladly accept her help. He'd like to believe he's a better man than he used to be before coming to Kamar-Taj. This place had humbled him. He was still prideful, yes, but he wanted to think he's better, not as egotistical. Besides, he's never been one to turn down knowledge. He always respected his teachers - well, the ones that weren't full of shit and fake PhDs, anyway - back in college and during his residency. Anyone who mentored him still got birthday and Christmas cards. It's the least he could do for the people who had shaped him into the man he was today, the doctor he was.

And if Toni would be willing to add to that list? Well, it would give him a chance to try and make a friend out of her. Besides, judging by her sharp eyes, he could tell she was extremely intelligent. If nothing else, it will be entertaining to have someone with an intellect similar to his own to talk with. She was sharp and fast and could be as sarcastic as he is. Her being a part time mentor for him might end up being ideal.

Something flashed across her face, an emotion he couldn't identify for the life of him, before it was gone and Toni graced him with a sardonic little smirk, almost mocking in nature. "Well, you should feel honored, then, that someone like me is taking time out of their busy schedule to educate a muggle like you."

Strange couldn't stop the face he pulled at the comment and it had _nothing_ to do with the arrogance of it or the veiled insult. "Did you just make a _Harry Potter_ reference? In Kamar-Taj? That's practically sacrilege!"

"No it's not," she replied, smirk growing more amused by the second. "Star Wars and Lord of the Rings references _are_ , though. And we all get a kick out of Wizards of Waverly Place and Merlin ones. Pull a Wizard of Oz one out of your hat and you'll be a favorite." And she said it in such a dead serious manner that Stephen couldn't help but gawk. After a few moments of him staring at her incredulously, Toni's mask cracked and she started rolling around on his bed, howling with infectious laughter as she held her stomach and a stray tear slipped past her lashes.

And Stephen found he couldn't even be annoyed at the joke on his expense. Toni was too pretty for her own good and laughter and happiness definitely suited her. He just chuckled along and wondered if he was finally losing his mind after all the shit he went through since the accident. It just wasn't possible for someone to be that cute. Or for someone to already grow fond of them.

_Only time will tell._


	3. Chapter 3

Meeting Toni at night after that laughing fit on his bed in the Astral Plane became a common occurrence in his new, weird magical life. If they didn't meet at the _very_ least three times a week, they knew something was wrong with the other. Stephen didn't like it, though, that while Toni always seemed to be able to find him to check up on him, he never had any idea where _she_ was until she popped up in his room at random times in the night. He often found himself pacing the entire surface of his room - Toni had taught him how to disregard the effects of gravity and any other laws of physics, which she also ranted about for an entire two hours since it _defied science_ even though she's already long since used to it or something along those lines - while worrying about her safety, whether she was injured or not or even if she was _eating_ since he only ever saw her in the Astral Plane at night and even he sometimes went back into his body for a snack but Toni never did. Still, she always looked healthy when he saw her, so he hoped that was the projection of her physical state, too, though he knew it wasn't necessarily so, given his hands don't shake in his astral projection. Still, her clothes changed - mostly to old band T-shirts and sweats, though he _did_ see her once in a pretty expensive business suit she never elaborated - so he hoped she wasn't hiding it from him if she had problems. Her energy signature was still as bright and as strong as ever, so he had high hopes.

They had become rather close friends in only three months time. Stephen told her about his accident and Toni told him about getting mixed in with a terrorist group that left her with heart problems. Strange had heard something about it happening in Afghanistan but he hadn't known civilians were being held hostage. Despite it being a hot topic at the time, it was all somehow rather hush hush. Stephen had listened, not calling Toni out on the details she left unsaid. He himself didn't describe his own experience in the fullest, for it was too painful a reminder to what he had lost. Either way, Toni liked it at Kamar-Taj and said she'd only leave if it became necessary. She had some friends she visits every now and then but she's mostly around sorcerers. Stephen never spoke about his plans of leaving in her presence, still remembering the bitterness it had caused. He rather preferred Toni's brilliant smiles and sparkling eyes as she gesticulated, explaining magic and science and technology to that cold, immense _age_ he had glimpsed at that moment.

Happiness looked good on Toni.

Stephen just wasn't sure what had him thinking it was a rather rare state for her to be in.

And Toni had turned out to be even _more_ brilliant than Stephen could have imagined. The woman was a _genius_! Give her a topic, a problem, a debate, she'll solve it or deal with it in a matter of seconds or talk about it for _hours_. One time, Stephen had been nostalgic and had started talking about his life at the hospital or college. When he spoke of how stupid some of his peers were about things that should be obvious, Toni had started rambling off numbers and calculations and what not about the possibility of each suggestion they would have to some surgery technique being successful and he had been surprised when she spewed medical jargon almost as fluently as he did. She wasn't a doctor by any stretch, but she caught on quick as Stephen explained on how nerve damage should be properly treated and compared it to the field she was most comfortable with - engineering. The comparisons she made in order to better understand were fascinating and even more fascinating was when she started explaining _magic_ with science. She admitted not all aspects if magic could be explained that way, though she swore she just hasn't lived long enough to do it. He still remembered repeating the Ancient One's words about not everything having an answer, only for Toni to rebut the claim and say _everything_ had an answer and that people just didn't look hard enough or did but in all the wrong places. She said nothing was random, not in science, not in magic, not in the multiverse.

"Everything has an answer, a reason, a purpose, _order_. Even nothingness exists for a reason. Even chaos has order, people just don't know how to spot it in, well, _all that chaos_. The universe and especially the multiverse at large wouldn't be able to sustain itself if it were not so. _Nothing_ doesn't have an answer, Stephen, and never let anyone tell you otherwise."

That led to Stephen asking Wong for all the philosophy books they had discussing order and chaos, much to the librarian's bafflement and Mordo's growing suspicion. The Ancient One just watched from the sidelines, silent.

Stephen advanced even further under Toni's careful and incredible tutoring, easily becoming Master level, learning some more useful spells and better control. He still didn't use magical relics - he hadn't found the right one, or so Mordo tells him - and not all of his spells could hold under duress. Still, it was pretty obvious he had outshined all the other students by several miles. Many remarked that he was _born_ for the Mystic Arts but that didn't exactly help his hands. For all that the Ancient One expressed pride in his success, he wasn't getting any better and that was fact. He could open portals with a sling ring, conjure weapons of energy and form glowing mandala shields, as well as astral project and a couple of other neat tricks Toni taught him, most of a healing nature and what all one can accomplish if using meditation to intertwine their own energy with that of the universe. She at least knew he had no desire to fight or do harm, unlike what he suspected his other teachers wanted from him.

Toni, in a way, understood him like no one else ever could hope to. In some aspects, they were scarily similar, like their intellect, their sharp wit and sharper tongues, but the woman had a sort of inherent kindness in her that Stephen always felt overwhelmed by. He wasn't sure if Toni had been born with such a kind heart or if her near death experienced had shaped her into the woman he knew now. She was arrogant, rude, rash and maybe even showed narcissistic tendencies ... A lot like he himself had acted until relatively recently ... Or so he had thought at first glance. In truth, the longer he knew her, he was that much surer that such behavior is an act to cover up her vulnerabilities. For all the power and knowledge she had at her fingertips, Toni was insecure, plagued by unrest, anxiety and no doubt nightmares from whatever event had transpired in Afghanistan. Stephen could only guess on that, but considering why he kept leaving his body to sleep dreamlessly to avoid reliving the moment his hands got crushed because he was being _stupid_ and paying attention to his phone instead of the road, he had a feeling he was right in assuming Toni was the same. From what he knew, she was practically almost always in the Astral Plane. He wondered what pains and dreams haunted her steps that she always sought solace in his room.

She helped him through some flashbacks before, of course, but Stephen had never let himself _sleep_ and have a nightmare ever since he mastered astral projecting. But tonight, he had been feeling exceedingly tired and he had fallen asleep instead of thrusting his spirit out of his body. It was probable that his mind just needed a rest. He's been denying it that for much too long, it was practically inevitable. That didn't make the nightmare any worse. Rain, his car swerving off of the road and down the cliff, flipping over and over as if into eternity, water, _his hands, gods they HURT_! He was trapped. He couldn't move. His hands, they had to be crushed ... He was going to die here, all alone. He cried for help but no one was coming. His car was going to be his tomb!

 _"Stephen?"_ A far away voice called but said man could find no source. Whoever it was was just too far away to help him.

He was on an operating table now, hearing Christine spewing a litany of reassurances which were utter _bullshit_. Stephen knew none of these doctors was good enough to save his hands. They knew it, too, and laughed as they cut his hands open and stuck flaming rods of metal into his fingers, sneering at the once great Doctor Stephen Strange, never again able to do surgery.

 _"Stephen! Hey, listen to me, you asshole! Snap out of it, it's only a dream."_ The voice from before said again, only it sounded so much closer this time. Stephen imagines he would have been able to reach out and touch the owner of that voice but _his hands_ \- _"Don't make me do this. I don't like hurting my friends but you need to_ breathe _, Stephen. You're a doctor, you know how vital breathing is. Come on, in and out, in and out."_

But the voice faded out of his focus again as Nicadamus West and Christine Palmer, his fellow doctors and former colleagues, took off the bandages and sneered when his once beautiful, steady hands shook uncontrollably. West even went as far as to grab his hand in a cruel grip, a sharp grin on his face as he took out a scalpel to 'fix his hands'. Stephen couldn't hold in a scream as his hands started bleeding and the doctors just laughed cruelly. He knew this had to be a nightmare or _Hell_ because he knew Christine, sweet, kind, often times naive Christine, would never act like this. But the thought was even more distant than the voice as pain filled all his senses.

_"You leave me no choice."_

He was on Everest once more, freezing, trying to open a portal _desperately_. He pleaded with the universe, concentrated on the courtyard of Kamar-Taj and tried again and again but it was no use. He knew he was going to _die_ here because when he looked to his hand, he saw no sling ring. He won't be saving himself this time. He was going to freeze here. His fingers will be the first to go, oh god as though they weren't ruined enough they were going to freeze and fall off as ice accumulates on them and he-

-found himself being pulled out of his body, out of his nightmare, only to flail around as he forgot himself and crashing into something. He heard a grunt as he and whatever he crashed into fell over and Stephen was just glad that they fell on the bed as whoever was under him would have gotten a concussion if his full weight slammed them down into the floor. It didn't even occur to him that astral projections can't get concussions ... Or _can_ they? Had anyone tried? Either way, he found himself laying on someone, panting for breath he didn't need, even though he can distantly feel his heart rate slowing down back in his body. When he thought he was ready, he pushed himself up and looked down, both surprised and not at all to find it was Toni under him, looking a little disheveled and greatly worried, probably about him. He froze, gaping, not sure what to do. He was utterly stunned how, even now, Toni looked ... Well, _stunning_. He had always acknowledged how beautiful the woman was but it had never hit him as hard as it did now. He wanted to blame it on not having had sex for over a year now but, well ... Even if he had gotten laid just last night, he was sure he wouldn't have reacted all too differently.

"Oh, good. You're back. I feared I'd have to slap you as well as push you out of your own body," Toni said casually, seemingly not at all bothered by the precarious position they were in. She was just lying there, completely non-pulsed, and Stephen wondered if he should be insulted. He thought he was at least moderately handsome. She could be at least a _bit_ flustered. "Are you okay?"

Then again, she was probably just too worried to even bother with anything else. "Yeah. Just a really bad nightmare. Sorry to bother you."

She waved him off, truly unflappable. "Nah. I'm just glad I was in tonight to be here to help you out of it. The worst thing ever is if you wake up screaming. Besides, this is instant consciousness. You're aware of your surroundings and I'm pretty sure you never astral projected before coming to Kamar-Taj, so that should calm you. No similarities to trigger you again and all that."

She looked ready to prattle on - as she was wont to, at the oddest of times, but I stopped her by asking something that had been puzzling me since we first met. "What is that, anyway?" He asked, pointing to the bright light coming out of her chest. He was really curious. It was just over her heart and he has never seen it on anyone else's astral projection Besides, he needed a distraction. He would have asked her one day about it either way, but it just occurred to him at this moment because it was practically shoved into his face. He might as well learn something new about his friend while he takes his mind off of his nightmares. It wouldn't do to spiral into an anxiety attack, after all.

Stephen watched Toni as she stiffened when he pointed at the light in her chest but she gradually relaxed again, though Stephen could tell there was now a wall between them. Toni's expression may remain carefree but her eyes told an entirely different story. Still, she answered before he could take back his question since it clearly caused her discomfort. "It's what's keeping me alive, basically." At his confused and scared look, Toni sent him a wry smile. "Something happened a long time ago and this is now the only thing keeping me alive. I depend on it entirely. If anything were to happen to it, I would be dead within minutes." At the expression on his face that must be _horrified_ , Toni just shrugged, smile turning a bit more reassuring than she had any right to be. "Don't worry, I'm fine. I made sure no one can touch it."

Stephen couldn't exactly say his worries were alleviated but he could see Toni doesn't want to dwell on the matter. Seeing as she had just helped him escape his nightmare, he will just resign himself to not satisfying his curiosity for the time being. Maybe meeting her in person one day, as he hoped, will clear up a lot of mysteries surrounding the woman. "It's emitting quite a bit of power." Still, he couldn't help but remark. Luckily, Toni didn't mind that one. She just smirked, proud.

"As it should be. It is, after all, my best work." The mere implication behind that left him dumbfounded, not that Toni particularly cared. "Either way, I think it's time you get your head out of the books and experience the multiverse you're studying yourself, through practice and not reading. And no, meditation doesn't count," she interrupted before Strange could point out that through the act it allows him to connect with its energies. "It isn't the same. Besides, you haven't even seen the whole of Kamar-Taj yet! Nor has anyone taught you how to do magic within the Astral Plane. I thought that might be fun."

"I thought you said you're not allowed to wander around since you cause such a stir." Still, he let her take his hand in all her eagerness, allowing himself to be dragged through the door of his room. He still needed some getting used to with that. They quickly flew through the corridors, though he noted the way Toni steered, as though angling her body for the optimum efficiency in taking turns or changing direction. It was as though her body was an air plane and she was trying to be as sleek and as aerodynamic as possible to reduce air resistance. Which was weird but he wasn't one to judge. Everyone had their quirks. Besides, at the speed they were going, it seemed to help stop them from crashing into random objects, magical or otherwise. Toni definitely knew these halls and she was definitely used to doing this. He wondered how many escapades she's had even before he came along and she had a companion to drag around.

"Everyone's asleep. We'll be _fine_ ," she all but wheedled, though it wasn't as though Stephen required much convincing in the first place, not even when she dragged him right through the floor at a specific spot and he soon found himself staring at the very foundations of Kamar-Taj. And one huge ass shielding/protection spell intertwined with dozens of others, or that was as far as Stephen could see, anyway. Strange couldn't help but stare in wonder at all that magic, so elegant and beautiful, utterly mesmerized. He didn't even register when Toni brought them closer and had them sitting in the center of the spell. The light made her look even more otherworldly than the blue hue of her astral projection. "I think we should start with this. You'll need to know it eventually."

"What _is_ this? Toni ... I've never felt so much magic in one place," he breathed in awe, almost overwhelmed by the feel of it. Steady, strong, _ancient_. He didn't even know how to describe it. Or the fact that he felt it reach out to his own energies and try to intertwine with them. Like it was trying to synchronize or form a link.

Toni just gave him a smile, like she knew what he was feeling. "Just let it happen, Doc. Let it happen."

And so he did, trying not to be swept away in the rush. He had a feeling he'll be down here for a while, judging by how content Toni looked to just be idly stroking the magic with her fingertips, letting little wisps wrap around them as the spells eagerly reached out to her. Whatever she was doing, it didn't disturb the spells, unlike Stephen's own movements, which he guessed meant she was well attuned with the energies flowing around here. Which meant he will have to practice a lot before he, too, can be so in sync with these spells and perhaps one day understand how they have been woven together.

00000

Unknown to only one of the two engaged geniuses, they were being watched from relatively nearby. An average height, bald, blue eyed woman dressed in ancient looking yellow robes observed as her most gifted student was guided through weaving his very life energy with Kamar-Taj and its shields. She watched as the woman played with the energies while keeping an eye on Stephen's progress, which was startling fast. It was, in fact, even faster than when he studied and trained under anyone else. To an observant individual, it was obvious that this is not the first time these ... _tutoring_ sessions were happening.

Not that the Ancient One was surprised. Many things have changed or been set in motion the day Stephen Vincent Strange set foot in Kamar-Taj. And for more than one reason she had been hesitant to grant him knowledge and training he begged for. Stephen Strange was meant to be the best of them, that she knew without a doubt.

It was the woman by his side that worried her.

Even after all this time ... The Ancient One still couldn't get a good enough read on her. Even now, when she so clearly displayed all the parts of her for Stephen to see, she was a closed book, chained and locked as tightly as possible away from anyone's curious reach as her relic. And yet Stephen seemed to share an understanding with her that the Celtic woman knew no one else will ever be able to comprehend. It made them a good team. They will be good for each other, but what of the world? Will a union, a partnership like that be safe? Will the multiverse pay the price?

And why him?

Thousands if not millions had crossed through the doors of Kamar-Taj and countless more will surely come. People of all backgrounds and lifestyles had come here, had trained and studied in the Mystic Arts, and yet _she_ had never gotten involved. Had never attempted to reach out to anyone. _She_ had been practically dormant. Only speaking with the Sorcerer Supreme. And _only_ when it was necessary.

So why now? Why Stephen Strange? Why had _she_ chosen him?

And why had _it_ reacted?

With nary a thought, the Ancient One found herself in front of the locked vault. The protection seals were still firmly in place but they let her through without a fuss upon recognizing her energy signature. She carefully walked in, seeing the same thing that had made her accept Stephen into their fold despite still despairing at what has become of Kaecilius.

She just let the electric blue light of an almost triangular relic wash over her. _'Soon,'_ she thought. _'Very soon.'_

She left without a glance back.


	4. Chapter 4

A week passed since Stephen got to see the spell work in the very foundations of Kamar-Taj and he was a bit frustrated that not much had changed in that time. He still only saw Toni at night, when she would take him all over the place, teaching him this or that about the defenses set around the huge complex that made up Kamar-Taj. He saw the rooms with the relics, two special rooms for scrolls and books that contained active spells and that were only to be opened _once_ and only when it was _absolutely necessary_. He was led to the gardens where otherworldly plants were being cultivated for various purposes and he was even brought to the magical workshop that crafted some of the relics. Toni had prattled on and on about the delicacy of combining craft and magic but Stephen had paid little attention to her words and was more interested by how excitable she could be when creating and building things was at hand. He had a feeling she would have been a creator, an engineer, perhaps, had she not stayed at Kamar-Taj.

But then, somewhere in the middle of the week, Toni didn't appear in his room at all the entire night. It was not unusual but it _was_ worrying when she didn't return the next night or even the night after. And when a fourth night passed, Stephen grew worried. That was unlike Toni. She always at least checked in on him. It had never occurred before that Toni stayed away for this long and the last time they saw each other, everything had seemed fine. Sure, he knew Toni was probably very busy and that sorcerers were often sent all over the world or into other dimensions for various reasons and varying amounts of time, but _never_ Toni. Not until now. He didn't want to worry, but he couldn't help himself. Sure, Toni was quite possibly the most powerful individual in Kamar-Taj besides the Ancient One but there were still those zealots and that Kaecilius out there, doing only god knows what to any Kamar-Taj sorcerers they run across. Toni was a very dear friend to him. He didn't want to lose her.

So when the fifth day dawned, Stephen decided to skip his morning reading/studying session he usually had in the library just after stretching and sparring exactly at sunrise. Instead, he let himself sit in a standard meditating position and allowed himself to enter the Astral Plane. This way, no one will disturb him. Breaking meditation was actually a big no no around here. After realizing just how his energy was affected when doing different things through meditation, Stephen could understand.

So Stephen left his room in his astral body for the first time since he met Toni that was by himself, starting his search. He was keeping on the deeper end, doing his best not to be noticed by anyone and to avoid meditation rooms and spots. Easier said than done, given how good Kamar-Taj was good for meditating as a whole. You could sit anywhere and the energies would pull you away if you are skilled enough. But because the flow of energy was so perfectly balanced, every move or use of magic can be felt by those who aren't doing anything specific during meditation, which is why Stephen could understand why Toni doesn't wander around during the day, at least not in the Astral Plane. She was far too powerful to be discreet, no matter how hard she might try. Talk about inconvenience.

And yet, despite all that power radiating in _waves_ off of her, Toni was no where to be found. Not a trace of her bright, electric blue colored light that he had gotten so used to. It was as though she had never even existed in Kamar-Taj and dread filled Stephen at all the possibilities. He was a doctor. He could imagine perfectly well all sorts of injuries, minor or life-threatening, she could have gotten to prevent her from reappearing for their usual nightly haunts. He refused to think she was _anything_ but injured and nothing terrifyingly worse. She couldn't be. She was _Toni_. She was just so full of life, so vibrant, so amazingly energetic. Just the thought of all of that light in her eyes disappearing, being extinguished for _any_ reason, seemed impossible. It was just ... not something that should ever be allowed to happen. It was _unnatural_. So Stephen wanted to find her and check on her to make sure she was being treated fine if she was indeed injured.

The problem with his self appointed mission was that he had no idea where to actually look for her. For as long as he knew her, Toni had always come to him and when they leave his room, they usually went to places Stephen would have no doubt at one point gone for training with Mordo or maybe even the Ancient One herself. The woman never told him much about her usual habits when not visiting Stephen. He had tried asking a couple of times but he now realized that she had all too skillfully managed to give him none-answers that competed with the Ancient One's in vagueness. It was almost like she was a politician or something. Strange wouldn't even be surprised at this point. She was intelligent, savvy and adaptable. Toni was no one trick pony. Give her any problem or situation and she'll deal with it in ways no one else would even begin to imagine as a possibility. And it was usually very fascinating to watch as her mind worked to solve anything thrown her way. Still, that wasn't helping him find her right now.

Stephen searched through most of the places she had taken him to so far, starting off with the very foundations of Kamar-Taj. She took him there almost every time they got together, saying that being in tune with the powerful magic circulating there will help him more easily draw on interdimensional energy. It surely made training easier, he'll give her that. But she wasn't there when he passed through all the floors and subterranean rooms and made it to the shields they so often meditated on. Nor was there any indication that Toni had been here since the last time they've come down here together. So, when he was absolutely sure his friend wasn't there, Stephen went to the second place, the roof. Toni loved gazing up at the stars. She could name all of them, every consolation, every speck of life, no matter how far away and how invisible to the eye they might be from Earth. Though he knew she sometimes got this ... _haunted_ look in her eyes as she gazed at the night sky. Usually when there was no moon and every star could be seek perfectly. Stephen didn't understand such a mix of feelings regarding the stars but he guessed there were just plenty more things for him to learn about Toni.

When it turned out she wasn't on the room, Stephen went searching for her in one of gardens she loved so much. It wasn't one of those full of bonsai trees or the such, it was instead filled with the most beautiful of flowers Stephen has ever seen. Toni said she mostly took care of it. He had asked her once why she liked it there so much and she had said her mother used to love gardening when she had time. From what he understood, Toni's childhood wasn't a dream or ideal one. Her parents were often too busy to really pay her much attention but she said she always had someone there for her. A man named Edwin. He took care of her and they tended to her mother's garden when she couldn't. Which sounded to be a good amount of time, though definitely not as bad as her time to spend caring about Toni. Toni always had pretty controversial stories about her parents, missing and hating them in equal measure, or so it seemed. Stephen always listened and tried to navigate what she was telling him and what was left unsaid. He had a feeling a lot of things were left unsaid. He let them, speaking instead of Donna, Victor, his parents, Nevada, sometimes about Christine and his former nurse, Billy, the only two people in that hospital who liked him and knew he was a bit more than just a genius asshole.

Still, Toni wasn't in the gardens, either, which was starting to worry him. He went to the library and various other places Toni liked taking him to, even going outside of Kamar-Taj and searching through the market to see if she had went to shop a little. She _was_ a woman, after all, even though he didn't really believe in stereotypes, but he guessed there has to be _something_ that she did when not studying herself or tutoring Stephen. When even the top of the Everest turned out to be a dud, Stephen was ready to tear his hair out! He had already checked the medical wing, the kitchen and the cantine, he had searched through all the meditation rooms despite the risk of getting scolded and he had checked the library three more times, just to be sure. He even went back to his room to see if he had maybe gotten her attention and she was now waiting for him to come back and explain himself regarding his little hunt for her. He'd take a scolding or even a shouting match - they _did_ argue from time to time, though usually about silly things, since the they were always open with each other about everything else and solved most of their semi-issues through nonstop banter - if it meant he'll finally know that she's alright. Which was why he was so disappointed and near panicking when he didn't find her there. _'Dear Vishanti, where_ is _she!?'_

And then, something occurred to him. A memory surged forward in his mind, a relatively recent one. Something she had said during their second ever encounter. _"You never came back."_ That was what she had said, he remembered his shock at the words with perfect clarity. She had waited fora week for him to go back where they first met, _expecting_ his curiosity to get the better of him and seek her out again.

Stephen debated for a moment if this was safe before figuring she must be suited somewhere close around that place for her to react as quickly as she did the first time. He threw caution to the wind and found himself struggling to remember the path he had taken through Kamar-Taj in order to reach the sealed vault that contains what he now knew to be called the Heart of Iron, a relic he had not given much thought to since the day he saw Toni again. It took him a while and a few wrong turns before he found the same blue light that had fascinated him and caught his attention the first time around. He followed it until he found himself walking down the hall of the vault, only from a different angle this time around. And the light was even brighter when he was this deep in the Astral Plane that he had no connection to the physical realm whatsoever. He was only a few meters away from exiting the hall and coming to stand at the intersection of pathways in front of the vault when he heard footsteps and voices seconds before he was pulled aside, into a niche in the wall, hiding him from view. His startled yelp was muffled by a familiar hand over his mouth but he didn't even have the time to feel relief at finding Toni when the owner of voices registered.

"-you are perhaps too lenient on Strange. You coddle and favor him too much." Mordo was saying to his companion, whom Stephen wasn't even surprised to hear was the Ancient One. What worried him more, though, was the hard edge to his words as Mordo spoke of him. He had never heard it before, though. This was a new development. Mordo had always been kind and patient with him.

"He has a choice, Master Mordo, to stay or to go back to his old life, like all before him and all that shall come after him. I will not take away this choice from him because of the amount of potential he has."

"He is more powerful than any sorcerer we have had in twenty years!" Mordo yelled at the bald woman, surprising Stephen with both his words and the venom he said them with. "I've trained dozens of students at this point and I have _never_ seen one whom Kamar-Taj itself shares power with. He learns things at an alarming rate. We _need_ to train him _properly_. He'd be a great asset against Kaecilius-"

"He _is_ being trained properly, Master Mordo," the Ancient One replied easily, but there was a sharp reprimand in her tone and a subtle threat hiding in her words, reminding Mordo of his place. He had never heard her use that tone in her voice, either. His mentors were full of surprises tonight, it would seem. "There is no need for Stephen Strange to be pushed any further. When the time is right, he'll make his choice. I refuse to influence him into making one _you_ think would be favorable for our current situation."

"He is powerful."

"He is protected." That, at least, shocked Mordo into silence, staring at the deceptively small woman who could no doubt shake the world with a wave of her hand. "Stephen Strange is meant to be the best of us. There are those ready to decimate worlds to make sure that happens and no, I do not speak only of the Vishanti wanting him. Be careful where you thread, Mordo. Your apprentice is destined for far more than the multiverse."

"What do you mean?" The man in the green robes persisted, confusion and frustration coloring each word that fell from his mouth. "Protected? Protected by whom? Whom or what is it that the Sorcerer Supreme fears so?" Stephen found it frustrating that he was completely ignoring the whole 'meant for more than the multiverse' part. That seemed like the important bit to the doctor. Not that the question of who or what was protecting him was insignificant but he was rather sure he had his priorities in order. Or he may be biased or just freaking out because _as far as he knew_ the Vishanti were like a godly triad or something that protects and chooses the Sorcerer Supreme. Why they would have _any_ interest in him is _not_ something Stephen wants to contemplate, thank you very much. Not until he's dead, at the very least. He couldn't give a fuck after that, anyway.

Instead of giving a verbal answer, the Ancient One just made a complicated series of gestures at the locked vault door and Stephen watched as the protections disappeared, leaving the vault vulnerable but also for the first time only illuminated by the magic of the Heart of Iron. Stephen felt his own heart stop as the exact shade of the energy's light registered in his brain. He didn't dare look at the only other source he knew of that exact shade of blue, even though it was literally right under his nose. Looking would mean he had to admit to it being the truth. He wasn't ready for ... whatever all of this entailed and implied. So instead, he ignored the tense woman pressed against him in order to focus all of his attention on the grim Ancient One and the confused and seemingly scared out of his mind Mordo.

"You cannot mean ... " The man couldn't even finish and Stephen didn't fault him for it. He himself had no words to describe ... whatever, at this point. And it didn't help that the Heart of Iron was so damn _distracting_.

This was the first time he was seeing it. The relic is mentioned and referenced in several of the sources he'd read and yet _none_ of them had an illustration or something of the like to showcase the appearance of it. The Heart of Iron, at first glance, wouldn't even appear as anything special but Stephen knew better. He'd read enough about it to know it was powerful and _dangerous_ , especially if used in the wrong hands. It was an abject of a vaguely triangular shape, though with no sharp edges. They looked as though purposefully cut off. From this distance, it was practically impossible to see any details but he knew there had to be _some_ at least. It looked like it was made of metal though he had no idea what the crystal(?) or whatever it was that was the source of the light was made of. All that he knew for certain is that he had only once seen a shade of blue the likes of which the Heart of Iron was emitting. He wasn't _blind_ , though at that moment he wished he was.

"The Heart reacts to him," the Ancient One said, confirming whatever Mordo could not voice. "It has been dormant since we sorcerers discovered it, millions of years ago. The entity within favors him. I am as of yet unsure whether he can use it or not but I do know that harming or pushing him is out of the question if we want to be able to rely on it for when the time is right." For some reason, Strange felt cold all over at this.

"Even without it, I believe we can hold our own. We have for so long," Mordo pointed out, forcing himself to look away from the glowing relic lest he be tempted to try and reach out for it. Stephen didn't think that was a good idea, touching the Heart. "Which is why we need to _keep_ our students. The Heart will probably be more content with him staying here than going on with his life in ignorance. You need to show this to him. If it has chosen him, he won't want to leave until we allow him to train to use it when he is ready."

"I never said that the Heart of Iron chose Stephen to be _used_ by him." Both men paused to think at the implications behind her words, silently waiting for more, an elaboration.

"Then what did it choose him for?"

The bald woman just shrugged, locking up the vault with a single motion of her hand. "It just chose him. It chose him and what for is not a question we have the right or the privilege to ask. Perhaps one day it will be clear to us all. Perhaps that day will never come. Sentient relics can be like that. Only time will tell." Stephen swore the Ancient One looked directly at their hiding place for but a second but he had no way to prove it or say for sure. Either way, she continued walking in the same direction as she had been headed just minutes before. "Come, Mordo. Now is not the time to ponder entities we cannot begin to fathom."

And Mordo, with a last, wary glance at the once again glowing seals - though whether he could see it or not was a good question since Stephen had no doubt better trained sorcerers _could_ see spells not currently doing anything other than existing and waiting for someone to dare try trespassing - before reluctantly following after his master. Toni held him in place long after the two were well out of sight and hearing range before she released him and took a step back. Stephen took a few calming breaths - not that they actually existed in this state but the motions helped him calm down and stay grounded - before opening his eyes and looking at Toni's impressively blank face, even her yes completely devoid of any emotion. That was the first time he had seen her like that but he wasn't about to let that deter him.

"We need to talk."


	5. Chapter 5

Toni agreed and led them right back to Stephen's room with no trouble of finding her way. Stephen followed close behind, silent, his thoughts racing in an attempt to absorb all of the information he had been saddled with and he knew this was only the tip of the iceberg of whatever Toni was no doubt about to tell him. There had always been something missing in all of Toni's stories. He'd never called her out on it, but he saw now that he should have. He definitely should have. Like he should have insisted on her surname, her age, where she was born etc. He should have tried to figure her out better instead of getting vague stories from her and being satisfied.

As it was, he now couldn't help but look at her and feel like he was staring at a stranger. He felt like this was the first time he was seeing her and he wasn't sure if he could reconcile his old image of her with this new knowledge he had. He wasn't even sure _what_ this new knowledge he had _was_ and yet suspicions - _answers_ \- whispered themselves into his mind and he dreaded how certain they sounded. He wanted to withhold judgement but he wasn't sure if he was excelling at the endeavor. None of it was making sense and Stephen felt as lost and amazed as he had when the Ancient One had pushed him through only she knows how many different dimensions of the multiverse all over again. He had thought the likeliness of that happening or him feeling like it again were slim to none and yet here he was, unable to believe that his closest friend in Kamar-Taj was not who she presented herself to be. He just wasn't sure what to think anymore.

The trip back to his room was swift and quiet and now, for the first time since she first appeared in his room all those weeks ago, Stephen felt a tinge of unease with her being in his personal space. Toni must have perceived as much, since she stood as far away from him or the bed or any other setting that might be seen as an intimate setting, instead looking ready to bolt at any second. He didn't like that, either. He wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt but he just ... Didn't know what to think anymore. He'll have to reassess the whole situation from the beginning.

"Start talking," was all he said and to her credit, Toni didn't hesitate or beat around the bush.

"I'm older than this universe," was the first thing out of her mouth and Stephen felt his eyes bulge at the bold, impossible deceleration but Toni didn't let him gather his wits or interrupt before she continued. "I don't know by how much, but I am. I have seen the formation of this planet and I have seen the birth of humanity and as such, of this order as well. I chose to ally myself with them and entrusted them with several artifacts of immense power. Agamotto was the first Sorcerer Supreme and the, you could say, father of the Mystic Arts. And he was my teacher, the first Sorcerer Supreme."

"Why would you need a teacher?" Stephen couldn't help but ask, stopping her before she could go into further detail. "I mean, if you're older than the universe, why would you need someone else to teach you? Shouldn't you know all of this and more?" He gestured around them, encompassing the entirety of Kamar-Taj and its teachings and ways. It only seemed logical to him that someone as old as Toni proclaimed herself to be would be a _much_ better sorcerer than a human who had only started in the art and was infinitely younger than her.

"Just because I am ancient does not mean I am all knowing, Stephen." The intimacy of calling each other by name was like a shock to his system when compared to his realization he actually knew nothing about her. The woman didn't let him dwell on it, though. "I have not always been fond or even accepting of magic. That is all I'll say on that matter. The point is, Agamotto was the first Sorcerer Supreme and I helped him build the order. It has remained the same for millions of years. Long before man discovered fire, Agamotto and I have been working in creating an elite group of people trained and equipped in protecting this world from any and all who might wish it harm. And when Agamotto passed away, the title of Sorcerer Supreme went to his greatest, most worthy student. The title and responsibility passed like that from master to student for generations until it reached Merlin and then his prized student, the woman you now know as the Ancient One. They both figured out keys to prolonging their lives. Merlin willingly became one with nature after the fall of the supposedly legendary Albion and his dearest friend, King Arthur, leaving the responsibility in the Ancient One's hands. She was wary of me from day one, unsettled by my age and mysterious origin or lack of any real knowledge or records of me beyond what her teacher told her. As such, there was always friction between us. She didn't know how to handle or interact with me. So she locked me up in a sealed and well protected vault after a failed theft attempt by a rogue sorcerer."

"So you _are_ the Heart of Iron!" That was what he was hoping against all hope _not_ to be the case. Yet it would explain so much, wouldn't it? "What even _are_ you? An artificial intelligence of magical origin?"

Something flashed through Toni's eyes that he couldn't quite decipher but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. "I am who I am, I am who I was and I am who I will always be. That never changed, no matter how much times has passed and the world did around me." There was an alarming weight behind her words that Strange couldn't understand but he guessed it was her sheer age that piled upon it. "And yes, the vessel of my being is the Heart of Iron. If it were to be damaged or destroyed, I would cease to exist and believe me when I say that no one will like the consequences of _that_ turn of events."

Which, of course, made sense. Something older than the universe itself, suddenly destroyed? It seemed like the sort of thing that would have a massive, violent backlash that promises some very bad consequences for the world at large. "So, what? You've been hanging around in that vault for centuries? Why come out only now? Why choose _me_ to protect or react to or whatever?" Those were the important questions, right? "Do you have some specific purpose? Are you using me? Or hoping to gain something?" Maybe she was like on of those genies or other magical creatures that assisted humans and then turned bitter and vengeful when human greed ensnared them in a cage and now she was looking for a fool who will release her to take her revenge against humanity as a whole despite her jailers - mostly - being dead already who who knows how many centuries.

"Not even the Sorcerer Supreme, or really all of them combined that have protected the multiverse so far, would be able to hold me in one place if I didn't allow it. And I'm not exactly _bound_ to the vault or to the, as you call it, Heart of Iron."

"What would _you_ call it?" Stephen challenged, though he doubted he should. It _was_ , after all, _her_ relic, in every sense of the word.

Toni arched an eyebrow at him to show she was implying just the thought running through his head. "The Arc Reactor." Which, to be fair on Stephen's part, sounded ridiculously familiar and outright _scientific_ and not at all magical so please do excuse his disbelieving expression which Toni completely ignored and prowled on. "As for your other questions, no, I didn't stay in the vault all the time. I could come and go as I pleased. The Ancient One sometimes knew of my excursions, other times she didn't. She did her best to keep me a secret, though, for the Arc _is_ a powerful item. Why I showed myself to you, though, is rather obvious. I only interact with the Sorcerer Supreme. The Ancient One didn't know she was going to pick up her master's mantle and she chose to avoid me for the most part of our early interaction. I let her be, since the competition was pretty tight with another student. Either way, when the time came for her to actively work and interact with me, she didn't really know how to deal with me. It took us _years_ to build up an acceptably effective rapport and by then the theft was attempted. You, on the other hand, are much more open-minded. Whether from the time you live in or you just being more intelligent and smart about it than 89% of the people inhabiting Earth, I saw that we could start a friendship that would be beneficial for whatever working relationship we might share one day." She paused, leveling Stephen with the most pointed look he had ever seen and finishing in a tone so dry and deadpan that it could give Wong a run for his money. "Also, I didn't have much of a choice in the matter, either. If I hadn't intercepted your little act of stupidity that night, you would be _dead_ or at least an empty husk that would have less chance of ever waking up than a brain-dead person, so ... "

Stephen actually flushed in embarrassment when she trailed off, remembering what an ass he had been about it. "I don't think I ever properly thanked you for saving my life, now that you mention it."

But Toni just waved him off, a small smile breaking the cold exterior she had put up the second Stephen had started questioning her in suspicion. "Think nothing of it. I'm glad I did. You're someone very dear to me, Stephen, and I only have a handful of those." And Stephen could imagine, what with her state of being. Was she alive? Or was she just sentient? She said that the destruction of the Heart - or the Arc, as she called it - would mean a cessation of her _existing_ , but did that mean she'd _die_? Or would she just disappear? Like a ghost at dawn-break. Stephen would rather not think about it. Still, the thought of his own feelings regarding their friendship being reciprocated filled him with warmth and happiness and something a lot like content. It's been a while since he felt that last one.

"So, the Heart?" He asked, eager to learn, as long as Toni was comfortable with telling him about it. "You don't have to tell me anything. I just want to know more about it so I know how to assist you if it ever comes to that."

The woman arched an eyebrow at that, finally coming over to plop onto Strange's bed like she always does, although some tension still remained in the room. "I created it myself not even I remember how long ago. But only recently - for me, anyway - did I have to turn it into a vessel. My hand was forced." Stephen arched an eyebrow at that, utterly confused. Toni gave him that same sad, bitter smile she had when she told him that he can't have it all. "I used to have a corporal form like everyone else. _Millions_ of them, even. I kept changing and changing them and yet, in some ways, they were always the same. Then, one day, an ancient enemy of mine tried to erase me from existence, just before the birth of this universe. He managed it in the sense that I don't exist in the physical world and I most probably never will. Not that way. But I in turn managed to keep a vessel of _some_ sort and what you call the Heart of Iron is it."

"Why do you call it the Arc, though? It doesn't _look_ like an arc."

The brunette gave him a pointed look. "You're a doctor. Does it _look_ like a heart?" Well, she had a point there, but still. "And if there ever comes a day when you need to assist me, just make sure that no one destroys it. I have numerous spells protecting it from all sorts of attacks or outside influences but you never know. Either way, just make sure no one ever takes it."

"And what's with the whole business of no one being able to use it? Is that your doing?" Toni paused at that, apparently thinking of how best to answer that question.

"Partially, yes. I can deny anyone I want the ability to use it. It is my vessel and the center of my whole being," she said, pointing at the brightest point of light on her chest, right where her heart would be. "If just anyone could use it, not only would the world be in danger but so would my existence and I have yet to do what I must to fulfill my 'purpose', if you will."

"And what purpose might that be? Can I help?" He'd rather not always worry about her when she vanishes on her own, like it had happened this time. He said as much and watched in intrigue as the intensity of the light on her cheeks dimmed. Almost like she was _blushing_. Stephen couldn't help but stare, feeling his brain crash for a moment. Did she just ... _blush_? Should ancient intelligence within powerful artifacts even be _able_ to blush? _How_ was this his _life_?

And why was he so immensely, smugly pleased about it?

"Maybe one day. You're still in training," said the sentience of the Heart of Iron in the end. "Until then, the Ancient One will deal with any assistance I might need. You need to focus on your studies if you really want to help me. You're still only a beginner, no offense. You might have advanced quickly but that doesn't mean there isn't still much for you to learn. The Mystic Arts are a lot like science. There's always something new to learn or be discovered."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Makes sense, too. "So does this mean you trust me when I say I'll stay even when I finish my training?" Something he said must have been wrong because her face suddenly closed off completely, as though a switch has been flipped. "Toni?"

"You still think you can have the best of both worlds?" Stephen glared at her, remembering the first time she said those words to him, only now the question sounded ... disdainful. Somewhere between pity and contempt. Toni's face might be blank but her voice certainly wasn't. And her usual mask wasn't fully in place. Her eyes, the most expressive part of her besides her often fluttering hands, usually belied any and all emotions she was experiencing. What he saw displeased Strange. "I told you it's impossible. You have to make a choice. It's not an easy one but, then again, it wouldn't be a life altering one if it was."

"And what makes you think there _has_ to be a choice? Or at least in the sense you're implying, like there are only two options to choose from." He challenged her and Toni's shoulders rolled back. It reminded Stephen of army veterans or military personnel when he would critique them about this or that thing they were doing that was endangering their soldier's/his patient's health. By now it was practically an ingrained, automatic reaction to feel his hackles raise in response to squaring off against such a posture. One of the reasons he was the best doctor in his hospital was because he didn't back down when someone got in his face. He could stand his ground for his patients without flinching. The nurses and sometimes other doctors even went out of their way to find him so he can drill it into family, friends or any other type of visitor's heads that the recommended treatment was for the best for whichever patient since they didn't dare. They could easily lose their jobs, after all, if some influential jerk decided he had it out for them. Doctor Stephen Strange? Not so much. He was intimidating, he was overqualified, he was successful and he was _expensive_. Toni's stance wasn't intimidating or news to him.

The dangerous glint that was slowly appearing in her eyes, though, might be.

"I have been around for longer than you will _ever_ be able to perceive, Strange. I speak from experience so no one will string you along."

"Maybe it's just that no one was smart enough to figure out how to avoid the choice you're saying is inevitable," he countered back, even though a part of him demanded that he flee. It was a primal instinct, he recognized with disgust, that urged him to get away from a predator. He internally grimaced. He'd never ran before and he refused to do so now. "Maybe they just never figured out that there might be a third option."

"There _isn't_ one."

"Or _maybe_ ," he snapped back at her, getting in her face without even realizing they had both at some point stood up, posturing at each other. Or at least _Stephen_ was posturing. He had no doubt Toni could snap him like a twig in the magical sense if this devolved into a fight. "It's just that people like _you_ insist on forcing them to make a choice that doesn't even exist! What is the choice, anyway? Stay and you get full mobility back or leave and live like a helpless cripple?! Where do you get off with giving such an ultimatum? Who are you to make people choose? What would you _understand_? You aren't even _human_."

He realized he had stepped too far the moment hurt flashed through Toni's eyes, her mask slipping for a fraction of a second to show how much that had actually affected her and Stephen wanted to take it back, to apologize, but Toni didn't let him. She took a step back from where they had gotten into each other's faces in the heat of the moment. For some reason, it felt more final than when Christine had walked out of his life when she closed the door of his near empty apartment. Toni was standing literally at arms length from him and yet it felt like he was in the Mirror Dimension, parallel to the physical world, able to see everything and yet never able to reach out and touch her ever again for there were no longer any intersections or touching points where they might meet and cross paths. It sent dread through the doctor that was unmatched by anything else he had ever felt. Out of everything that he had ever lived through, he had never thought that the loss of a friend could hurt this much or initiate this much panic at the mere thought of it. Losing Christine hadn't felt _anything_ like this.

"You're right. I'm not." The words _Not anymore_ or even _Maybe I never was_ vibrated in the air as perfect ways to finish that statement. Stephen had no idea why they might fit like that. They weren't _rational_. And yet they stuck. "But don't even _dare_ think I take some kind of sick pleasure in watching people make that fucking choice. I above all others would want them to live happy, long lives away from danger. I hope _every second of every fucking day_ that I am no longer needed because that would mean everyone is finally _safe_. I _long_ for that moment so I can finally fucking _rest_. But _you_ ," she said with disappointment and Stephen would have rather taken her scary rage from a second ago than that. "Wouldn't understand _that_. You actually get to be _human_."

And before he could say anything in his defense, she was gone.

_'What have I done?'_


	6. Chapter 6

Stephen didn't even get all that long to be horrified at the second friendship he had ruined in so short of a time period - relatively speaking, of course - before his world was turned upside down and he had no hope of rightening it again.

It all happened so _fast_.

It started about two days after his unexpected argument with Toni. The first day, he didn't dare go looking for her, fearing if they'll both mess their friendship up even more if they speak while tempers are still high and volatile. Though he did wonder if any of that friendship remained after the way he had acted like an unimaginable _asshole_. He would completely understand if Toni never wanted to have anything to do with him ever again but Stephen was selfish enough to wish it were not so either way. So he spent the day as he usually did and found himself completely and utterly unable to fall asleep or even meditate himself out of his body and into the Astral Plane. He was far too distracted with his guilt of never having apologized or for even starting the whole mess in the first place. He stayed up all night trying to get some reading done, which made him tired as hell and very cranky in the morning, much to Mordo's amusement and ire. A sleep deprived Stephen - when it wasn't according to his plan due to his workaholic tendencies, at least - had an even sharper tongue and he did nothing to hold his snappish comments back. Venting some of his anger out during the sparring session helped and he was finally able to meditate that night, managing to knock his body into sleep as he studied in his astral projection.

On the second day, despite getting some sleep, he wasn't in much of a better mood and it was showing. The Ancient One noticed everyone giving him a wide berth ad he walked past, his energies snapping around harmlessly but unsettling people who both knew and didn't know why they were so uneasy. She took him aside and trained him into the ground, spell after spell, repetition after repetition, spar after spar until he was drenched in sweat and they were both breathing a bit heavily, which he was actually proud of. All day or not, he was pretty sure no one could fight with the Sorcerer Supreme until she was a bit out of breath. He tried not to preen too much when she complimented him on his progress, which turned out to be pretty easy when it occurred to him just _how_ and _why_ he had lasted this long and improved so fast. Theory he got down right rather fast but Toni had always helped him with the practice part. He felt her absence more than ever in the face of this success.

That night, he was actually too tired to stay up or even drag himself over to the library to return the books he had been reading before he overreaches the return date. He quite literally fell into a boneless heap on his bed and fell asleep nanoseconds before his head hit his pillow. He spent the night dreaming of twinkling laughter, a pretty blue light and brown eyes he thought he might fall in love with, only for the dream to dissipate when the pounding of heavy rain outside woke him early in the morning. The sun wasn't even out but he found he could not fall asleep. He wondered what he should do, questioned the wisdom of trying to reach out to Toni but shrunk away from the thought of her rejecting him. He resolved to go search for her by the vault that night and instead turned to the book he had been studying. He had already memorized it, it was a book on healing but he hadn't found any spells or relics that might help him heal his hands. He didn't really know which choice Toni was always bringing up but he wanted to prove it to her that it can be avoided so she can just tell all future students of Kamar-Taj how to get the best of both worlds, as she kept referencing Hanna Montana or Miley Cyrus, whichever rocks your boat.

The book was useless beyond finding out that severe injuries like his hands or Pangborne's legs can be treated with magic and healed completely only in the first few hours after sustaining damage, without previous operations that people would usually undergo in cases like that. It was much like with neurosurgery. The sooner the patient gets to the operating table, the more likely it was for their nerve damage to be repaired without complications. In theory, that sounded great but Stephen knew it can't always go like that, especially not when ER and trauma surgeons get their hands on you first. The survival of the patient was priority over cured nerve damage. The patient has to be stable in order for any further treatments to be administered. It was protocol. The sorcerers might find it easier to heal everything at once especially with their express delivery through portals but even then time was of the essence.

And time stopped nor turned back for no one.

 _'Time!'_ The realization hit him like a brick wall and he fairly jumped out of his cot of a bed, dressed using that neat trick Wong had begrudgingly shown him to magic his robes into place and all but sprinted to the library, uncaring of the rain. With his long legs, he was there in practically ten leaps, anyway. "Wong? Hello?" He called as he entered the candle-lit room and found the desk void of the guardian of the library, a weird sight indeed. Stephen put back the book he had been using and took one last moment to hesitate before going over to the chained books that were the Ancient One's private collection, picking up the Book of Cagliostro with shaky but reverent hands. _'How could I have been so blind, so_ stupid _? The answer has been there, underneath my nose this whole time!'_

Time. That was his answer. Fucking _time_. The book in his hands contained spells that controlled or at least concerned _time_. Time, which if turned back, could possibly heal all injuries as though they had never even _happened_. No nerve damage, no crushed-beyond-repair bones, no need for stainless steel rods to hold his fingers together. No more shaking. He could have his steady hands back! He could be a neurosurgeon again and _still_ learn magic, as he had been planning to do ever since he started studying. He had found his answer.

 _'How come no one had thought of this before?'_ Was his last thought before he started reading. That night - early morning? - he picked up the Eye of Agamotto for the first time and that night he used the powers of Time for the first time. Also that night, he nearly unleashed Dormammu because he didn't finish reading the page because the warning was _after_ the fucking spell. Had it not been for Mordo and Wong to stop him, he would have doomed them all.

But at least he finally got some _answers_ , though none he liked or was comfortable with. Seriously, monsters and demons from other dimensions!? He did _not_ sign up for this! He had come to heal, _not_ become a super secret magical superhero! He was a _doctor_. He had sworn an oath to _do no harm_. They should know better than to expect for him to leave saving lives for taking them, though they seemed to be expecting just that. He hated them in that moment. They had the power to help _so many people_ and yet they squirreled it away, hiding and letting the rest of humanity rot.

And then he got a greater understanding of just how important their role as protectors of their reality actually _is_. He fought, he killed a man, he got patched up by Christine, he fought some more, they lost the Ancient One and he swore an oath to make her proud and to protect the Earth no matter the cost to his own well being. He recruited a slipping in faith Mordo, they went to Hong Kong, he used the Eye of Agamotto to stop and reverse the catastrophe they found, reviving Wong along the way, they fought some more, time stopped and then he went through the rift in the sky with a glance back at Earth, his thoughts only on Toni. Toni said her purpose would be fulfilled when no one was in danger anymore, from which he deduced her purpose was to protect and save people. This was something Toni should be doing but he had been blasted out of Kamar-Taj into the New York Sanctum when the London Sanctum was destroyed and he had no idea what had kept the Ancient One and Mordo from coming to assist him for so long. He had no idea where Toni was, he only hoped she would be alright. She _should_ be. Her safe was practically impenetrable.

Facing Dormammu with only the Eye of Agamotto as his protection from permanent _death_ was an experience he'll never not have nightmares about. Forget his accident, _this_ was _horrific_. He had no way to fight Dormammu, a being whose glowing purple iris might as well be as big as all of Kamar-Taj. He was killed, again and again and again, in so many different ways and he was smug about it, too, because Dormammu was panicking and raging against the loop Stephen had created. _Time_ was his best weapon in a timeless dimension removed from everything and all else in the multiverse. He had no way to _win_ , but he could lose, again and again and again and again. "And that makes you my prisoner." At least he didn't buckle under all that pain of each of his deaths. Pain was an old friend. He knew how to endure it, at least.

In the end, Dormammu grew sick of him and conceded, agreed to his terms and all but spat Stephen out of the Dark Dimension and the world was saved. But Mordo refused to follow the path they were on anymore, citing their messing with the laws of nature and the secrets the Ancient One had been keeping. "The debt comes due. Always." And he left, disappearing into the crowd like he had never even been there to begin with. Stephen watched him go with a heavy heart. One of his teachers died protecting him, the other left him because he had found the only solution to prevent their world from being consumed by Dormammu and the Dark Dimension. He only had Wong and Toni left.

Toni.

 _Heavens_ , he missed her. He didn't waste a second to open a portal back to Kamar-Taj and he was only just barely aware of Wong Stepping through with him. He forgot all about the Asian sorcerer when he registered the panic in some of the older masters, chief among them Master Hamir, who looked upon them with a face stern with dread.

"One of our vaults has been broken in to. The relic inside is gone, not a trace of it to be found. No amount of scrying can pinpoint its location, either." The old man said all of this while looking Stephen in the eyes, waiting for a response from the doctor.

But Stephen felt like he couldn't breathe. He had no air in his lungs. A cold numbness seeped into his very bones and not just in his hands, but in his _whole body_.

"Which relic?" Thankfully, Wong asked in his stead, focused on the matter at hand without the growing panic Stephen was suffering from. He may have become the Master of the New York Sanctum and the Master of the Mystic Arts and he _may_ have just died at the hands of an all powerful demon countless times, but that did _not_ mean he was suddenly perfectly capable of dealing with all of these things. He can already tell that he'll probably need days upon days of meditation just to get himself back in balance and maybe try to repress millions of his deaths that happened not even half an hour ago. How he wasn't having a nervous breakdown, he had no idea. Probably because he had forced forward the calmness he usually maintained during surgery. It was the only way for him not to break down right there and then. Though he had a very bad feeling he still might do just that upon hearing which relic was stolen.

"The Heart of Iron." Yep. There went the world from under him. "The shielding of the vault must have wavered and lost strength when the Ancient One died or it could have simply been the lack of a Sorcerer Supreme in general to maintain them. Someone knew this or saw an opportunity and got in. The relic is gone and we have no way of finding it."

Stephen was marching towards the vault even before Master Hamir finished speaking, refusing to believe that _Toni_ was _gone_. She couldn't be. She said she could deny others the ability to use the Heart. She was _so powerful_ , surely she could defend herself even without a physical form! Toni just _couldn't_ be _gone_! He hadn't apologized yet! The argument _can't_ be the last conversation they'll ever have! He _refuses_ to let that be the final interaction and his last memory of her, or her's of him.

"Stephen!" Wong called after him even as the two masters tried to keep up with his long strides. Stephen didn't heed the call, too focused on finding Toni. His newest acquisition and companion, the sentient relic he'd heard about, the Cloak of Levitation, proved to be invaluable as it helped him leap or dodge the other sorcerers gathering around the, for most, mysterious vault. The older ones took barely a glance at him before they respectfully stepped back, something Strange decided to think about later because _now was not the time_. He had to find Toni ...

He came to a halt in front of the vault, nearly sinking down to his knees when he found it open and no protection spells shining in front of it. The inside of the vault looked untouched but for the lack of the Heart of Iron and it's beautiful electric blue energies that Stephen had come to associate with _home_ because those same blue energies belonged to _Toni_. The world looked gray and bleak without them, suddenly. He barely registered the Cloak trying to comfort him like it had in the hospital after the Ancient One passed away. All he could do was stare blankly at the empty vault.

"What happened?" He asked and didn't recognize his own voice. It sounded so, so tired, almost without any inflation to indicate he was alive. He hadn't felt this lost when he woke up in the hospital and saw what they had done to his hands, what _his reckless driving_ had done to his hands.

"We suspect that it was either the Ancient One's death or the lack of a prepared successor for the title of Sorcerer Supreme that weakened or outright decimated the protection seals," one of the female masters who had spent two and a half decades in Kamar-Taj echoed Master Hamir's earlier words and yet that was not what Stephen was asking, not the answer he was looking for.

"And why wasn't the relic being guarded?" Usually this level always had at least _one_ master making rounds. Someone should have stopped the theft.

"It was. Master Irens protected it to her last breath." Another lost life. What a horrible day. "We found one of the zealots not far away from her. She must have taken him down but he probably had an accomplice. We saw traces of blood for a couple of feet before they disappear. The second person must have taken the Heart."

"We must find it," Strange said with an authority he didn't feel. "That relic has been under the protection of sorcerers of Earth longer than Kamar-Taj exists. We can't let it be used for malicious purposes." He _refused_ to let _Toni_ be used for malicious purposes. He won't lose her like he lost his sister. He won't fail Toni like he had failed Donna. He'll find her and he'll bring her home. He had so much to apologize for. She had been right. There was a choice one can't avoid. He had made his. They had time to _really_ get to know each other now. He had so many things he wants to ask her. How and why did she choose to be called Toni? How far away from the Heart can she go? Why does she always compare magic to science? Was it for his benefit or something else? Were there any more people like her? Who was her ancient enemy? Was she aware of just how _important_ she is to Stephen?

"I agree, Master Strange," another sorcerer said and Stephen bit back the instinctual need to correct them that it was _Doctor_ Strange. He'd already snapped because of it once today and it had been at the Ancient One. He kind of regretted that now. But he'd had a stressful day by that point already and didn't need her adding to it. Just because he couldn't practice medicine anymore did _not_ mean he hadn't gotten his PhD and M.D. at the same time or that they were suddenly valueless. He could have continued practicing medicine even if he couldn't operate anymore. He'd still have been making a million dollars a year as a consultant. He could have lived a normal life.

But then he would have never learned all the beautiful and amazing things he had. He wouldn't have been humbled, wouldn't have learned to live and surpass - even if only slightly - his fear of failure. He wouldn't have met incredible people like Wong, Mordo and the Ancient One.

He wouldn't have met Toni.

And that seemed like a fate he couldn't fathom at all. It was too cruel.

"But we have priorities we must adhere to." Stephen looked up at that, meeting everyone's eyes in the process. They were all looking at him expectantly. Even Wong, who was usually completely unimpressed with him. "Earth has lost its Sorcerer Supreme. It won't be long before the news of the Ancient One's death echoes across the multiverse."

"We are weakened," another master said, getting many nods and acknowledging grunts. "Without guidance, Kamar-Taj and the Sanctums will surely fall."

"You are powerful and greatly skilled, Master Strange," Master Hamir added his own vote, taking a single step forward as the senior of all the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj. "There is still much for you to learn, but you are on the right path. The Ancient One has made certain of it." No. That's not right. _Toni_ has. The Ancient One probably wouldn't have even let him in if the Heart had not reacted to him, whatever that meant. "The Eye of Agamotto has chosen you."

"What are you saying?" He questioned with a frown. The masters all exchanged looks and all the younger and lesser sorcerers were now waiting with bathed breath to the answer.

It was, in the end, Wong who stepped forward and looked Stephen straight in the eye as he delivered the response.

"We need you to be the Sorcerer Supreme."


	7. Chapter 7

Strange's first instinct was to turn down the power and the responsibility that title held, and he almost did, but then a few things occurred to him.

The first thing he registered was that these people were desperate. He was a novice, a Master of a Sanctum for barely a few hours and they were already asking him to become what is essentially the supreme leader of their entire order which has stood for who knows how many millennia. They themselves have stated that he must learn more and yet they were ready to place all of their bets on him. Then again, given how quickly he had been advancing so far, he guessed it made sense they'd expect him to move forward in his future lessons as easily as he had the ones so far. Given he no longer had Toni for overnight tutoring, he wasn't sure if he can live up to those expectations.

The second thing that registered was that he couldn't turn them down. They were right about one thing, if nothing else. Stephen had often compared power levels with his fellow sorcerers and he had outclassed almost everyone even in the first days when he had only just learned how to make that comparison through the Astral Plane. Mordo, the Ancient One and especially Toni were the only ones who shone brighter than he did. He had leveled out with Mordo a few weeks ago, mostly due to how much Toni insisted on him growing in sync with Kamar-Taj's own energies. The more he trained and learned, the more his power levels grew and the more control he had, the brighter he shone when viewed from the Astral Plane. Mordo had more experience but Stephen had far more power than him and a natural gift for the Mystic Arts, or so everyone kept insisting. Toni wasn't even human - and he meant that as a species entirely, as in Homo Sapiens Sapiens - but a being older than the universe so he wasn't sure if she should count in this comparison but he had near reached the Ancient One's level when she isn't using the power of the Dark Dimension. He still had much to learn and these people could teach him. They obviously thought that with time and training, he'll eventually even surpass his teacher. So he couldn't turn them down. The Ancient One had told him he could go back to his old life and that the world would be all the worse off for it. He imagines turning down their request to train him into her place would be just as bad. Besides, he had already committed himself to staying in Kamar-Taj - or rather, the New York Sanctum Sanctorum - and protecting the world from whatever dimensional threats might target it. His experience in the Dark Dimension had only strengthened his resolve as it had strengthened him and improved his control as though he had been training for _years_. He doubted anything would get through his shields now unlike how they wouldn't even hold solid most of the time just a few hours ago. He had the power, hence he had a responsibility to use it to protect this world.

Anything that will help Toni fulfill her purpose and finally be able to rest.

And the third thing that registered to him was actually related to the woman. Toni, if the Heart were ever to be found and not lost forever as Stephen feared and tried not to think about lest he descend into a panic attack, would undoubtedly come back to Kamar-Taj and resume her watch over Earth and the sorcerers who protected it. And Toni had told him a few times straight out that she only conversed with the _Sorcerer Supreme_. She had grown interested in him and the _Heart of Iron_ \- he actually wondered why it was called that, now that he thinks about it - had reacted to him when he came, the reason the Ancient One ultimately let him learn at all. Which he should have long ago figured out meant that she saw _him_ as the future Sorcerer Supreme and the Ancient One had no doubt been aware of that. She had displayed that awareness when she told him to 'never lose _heart_ ' with a great emphasis on the last word in their last conversation as she stretched out a single moment on and on just to watch the snow fall and speak with him one last time to impart some parting wisdom on him and Stephen hadn't needed an explanation. He wasn't as amazingly clever as Toni but he _was_ a genius in his own right, too. He had figured out the hidden message there after only a few seconds of thought. Toni and him were apparently meant to work together, something he had nothing against. He realized he wanted to spend the rest of his days with her, no matter how long or short, and he can only do that as Sorcerer Supreme. And he didn't mind that at all.

And the final thing that he realized was that the only way he can keep a search going for her - or the Heart of Iron, as far as anyone else was aware - indefinitely would be if he took up the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme. Yes, he wanted to have the power to protect his world but Stephen was fundamentally a selfish creature. His greatest wish in all of this was to bring Toni back home. She had lived through all the worst in humanity and yet still wished to protect them. He refused to let her be _used_ like an _object_ when she was the most amazing person Stephen had ever met. The beginning of his apology to her for acting like a dick will be to bring her back. And he'll make sure she is never locked up again. They'll find a way, together, to give her a corporal form so she doesn't have to worry about protecting her vessel.

And so Stephen had looked at all of those expectant sorcerers and found he could only give them one answer, the only answer he really had for anyone in Kamar-Taj.

"Teach me."

00000

Weeks passed, Stephen trained and learned and yet there was still no sign of the Heart of Iron anywhere. The doctor turned Sorcerer Supreme trainee refused to let that deter or distract him from his studies and only pushed and trained harder. His teachers found they could often not keep up with the spells and things he learned during his nightly study sessions nor could they keep track of how his strength developed when he spent even only one hour meditating on the seals down in the foundations of either Kamar-Taj or the New York Sanctum.

There was a lot more to his training for Sorcerer Supreme than there was for the training he would have undergone to become a regular Master of the Mystic Arts. For one, the first thing he was taught how to do was repair the Sanctums and their three seals. Only the Sorcerer Supreme could do it as usually only they had the power required to finish the spell. Stephen was guided through rebuilding the one in London step by step and he was revered with awe when he finished it in only twelve hours and was still standing despite the amount of energy he spent. He tried not to react to how the acolytes assigned to the Sanctum looked at him in wonder for the feat he had accomplished. They had been training considerably longer than he was and yet he was now their superior and will be their Sorcerer Supreme. The new Sanctum Master, Leila White, thanked him and swore to not allow her predecessors life and memory to be lost in vain. It felt an awful lot like an oath of loyalty for Stephen's comfort but he knew he would have to get used to it. This will be his new life soon enough.

He fell asleep that night too tired for any possible nightmares he might have had after Dormammu and his accident and surprised the entirety of Kamar-Taj when he was up and about early the next morning. Wong tried to tell him to take things easy but Stephen refused to waste time on a recovery he didn't need. He had already checked the wound he got while protecting the New York Sanctum and was relieved to find no infection setting in so he just did light stretches, careful not to rip the stitches Christine had been kind enough to sew. He'll probably have to explain things to her one of these days, when he finds the time. Until then, he got some light breakfast, took the Cloak and Eye of Agamotto - no one felt it was safe to leave it around unsupervised while they still had no idea where any other possible Kaecilius zealots might be given how the Heart of Iron had disappeared - and went straight for the library. Wong didn't hesitate to hand over the Ancient One's personal collection. It was, after all, technically Stephen's now.

Due to the nature of the power of the Eye of Agamotto, it's origin and what it housed, Stephen started off with the Book of Cagliostro, for he needed to know everything there is to be known about the most powerful relic in Kamar-Taj's possession now that the Heart was gone. But because of it's nature, Stephen found himself cross-referencing all of the Ancient One's other books all too often and found he couldn't keep a single thread of studying going for longer than a couple of sentences. He wasted half of the day on just the first page and found it utterly frustrating and not at all fruitful, all things considered. All that knowledge was trying to rearrange itself in his brain to make one linear line of understanding and he struggled not to let himself get a migraine. It was not a productful first day of studies, much to his displeasure, and Wong wouldn't let him take the books out of the library, not even to his new and far better protected quarters that belonged to the Sorcerer Supreme.

That night though, Stephen found that an extensive library of books and scrolls were left for him by his late teacher. The Ancient One, bless her, had somehow foreseen his struggles and had left plenty of the books that would help him in his studies. One of the ancient Greek scrolls contained a spiral of spells on multiplying everything from single cells to organs or limbs and finally to one's entire body. It took Stephen three days to master it so he can safely create three copies of himself and another five so he can make as many as he wants. By the time he was satisfied with the flow of information from them to him, Stephen returned to the library and proceeded to scare the shit out of any novice that entered the library and saw ten of him reading in various positions in different places half of the Ancient One's collection, all of them studying and referencing two books at the same time. Wong had refused to stay around so many of his idiotic selves and had isolated himself in the far corner of the library with his music player blasting Beyoncé - _Ha_! Stephen had converted him! - songs through his earbuds. Of course, normally no one would even be able to hear them from Stephen's side of the enormous space but he kind of had a tick to be oversensitive to noise when he was trying to concentrate on something really important. Wong usually kept it down after Stephen badgered him about it twenty times and after the fiftieth song he told him the name, album, artist, awards and the exact date it was released, annoying the librarian to no end.

It took him four solid months to finally feel like he understood the Eye of Agamotto and the Time Stone it housed within to his satisfaction before he even dared try anything with said artifact. In the meantime, he studied various other spells and topics at night when Wong all but threw him out of the library, trying not to think how it had usually gone before he had messed up. He felt Toni's absence like a missing limb. Her light had usually made his room the brightest place in Kamar-Taj and her guidance had helped him through dozens of spells or magical exercises. Now he was left on his own, learning new things while trying to recall the basics she had taught him. He had found himself looking up to ask her this or that when something caught her attention or confused him only to find he was alone and he had to wait for morning to ask one of the masters. Too often for his liking, not even they had the answer and Stephen found himself spending hours in the library with Wong to find it himself.

Most of all, he missed their companionship, their jokes and laughter, the way her eyes light up when she smiles a genuinely happy smile. He still stands by his opinion that happiness never looked more beautiful on another person and after finding out just how _ancient_ she was and what all she must have lived through, he was only all the more sure in his opinion. He missed her twinkling, infectious laughter, her wit, her jokes, be it dark humor or just funny things she learned and heard over what he realized were centuries of existence. Stephen missed her intelligence and the glint in her sharp eyes as she focused on something, the ease with which she explained things of both science and magic in layman terms he was sure even a child would understand. He missed her stories and anecdotes of the Kamar-Taj she had seen before he came. He just missed her as she is. Stephen Strange missed Toni like he had never missed anyone else in his life, not even his beloved sister.

He was ashamed that he only realized and accepted the nature and depth of his feelings almost a whole year after the day the Heart of Iron disappeared.

Every search party reported the same thing. No group of sorcerers or magical beings had any contact or clue as to where it might be. Ten more of Kaecilius' - formerly; the man was now one of the countless Mindless Ones in Dormammu's demon armies - zealots had been caught but all any of them knew was that the theft _was_ attempted, that the plan had been to destroy the Heart so that the ancient presence within wouldn't interfere with their plans, so that the immense power the relic held would not be used against them. All any of them knew was that the men who had went after it are now very much dead. And and all knowledge that they _might_ have had about its location was with someone else. Questioning them proved pretty much futile as all of the zealots had scattered after Kaecilius and his team's defeat. They were now just trying to avoid being caught and made to pay for their transgressions and atrocities. Stephen refused to give up and even went to search a few times himself even as his 'graduation' neared and even though he had plenty responsibilities as both the soon to be Sorcerer Supreme and the Master of the New York Sanctum.

And as if to add insult to injury, he was now being pursued and scouted for the superhero group called the Avengers. They're pretty much on the down low so far but people knew of them. There was even a full set of laws for superpowered people because of them! The director of a recently purged SHIELD, a super secret organisation tasked with world security that had _somehow_ ended up infiltrated by the WWII Nazi organisation HYDRA that was supposedly taken down by Captain America, had turned up at the Hong Kong Sanctum one day and the Masters there had called for Stephen, which was what the one eyed man seems to have been aiming for. Director Nick Fury, as he introduced himself, wanted him, Doctor Stephen Strange, to join the Avengers in their battles. They apparently needed a magic expert because back in 2012, the Asgardian god of mischief, Loki, had very nearly staged an invasion had it not been for 'someone from Strange's order' to lend a hand. As it had turned out, Loki was brainwashed and now Fury was trying to amass a large group of extraordinary people to fight all the fights ordinary people couldn't, Fury's exact words. The set of laws mentioned earlier? They were called the Accords, meant to govern the actions of these 'heroes' and give them human rights, like in the case of mutants and the Inhumans and even aliens like Thor and Loki, one of whom was an Avenger, the other a consultant. Due to these laws, the X-Men, the Defenders, a large number of Inhumans and even the members of the former 'sinister' branch of mutants, the Brotherhood, all joined and fought as heroes for their world. Military and science divisions can't touch them without their consent. All those who had hunted them before, like Generals Stryker and Ross, in the case of one Bruce Banner a.k.a. the Hulk, were not only dishonorably discharged but also put in jail for the rest of their lives for crimes against humanity.

All of this, Fury explained in great detail while trying not to flinch as his coffee poured itself and levitated into his hands, eyeing it like it was going to jump out and bite him. Which, to be fair, the thing most resembling coffee in some dimensions actually _did_ but Stephen wasn't going to scare Fury with that. He didn't need to, given how twitchy the Cloak of Levitation was around this mysterious stranger. Either way, Fury didn't leave out any details, even going as far as to give him a printed out cope and several folders of information and even inviting him to check his claims on his own.

"The Accords represent responsibility and accountability while ensuring your own safety," the man had summarized when he stopped talking after an hour, looking at his silent audience and no doubt trying to read Stephen so he could know what he was dealing with. And on Stephen's part, after all the shit he'd been through since his accident and _even more_ shit since his battle of wills against Dormammu, had mastered Wong's impassive, emotionless resting bitch face. He wondered whether it was to the point of how Toni could wipe _everything_ from her face until it was stone cold and decided he needed to work on it a bit more. There were two highly trained super spies and assassins on the Avengers, after all. Whether he joins or not, he has fallen under SHIELD's radar and they'll be keeping an eye on him whenever they can. He had to be able to keep secrets flawlessly, for the sake of the order he was now responsible for. "We're in this for the world, Doctor Strange, and you're the only magic user around besides Loki and _he_ and another source say you're the best around. Also, your magic vastly differs from his so he thought having someone well versed in Earth brand of magic out in the field wouldn't be a bad idea. I tend to agree with reasonable ideas-"

"What 'other source'?" Stephen interrupted, eyes narrowing. He was still a couple of months away from 'graduating', was still searching for Toni and still learning how to be a good Sorcerer Supreme. He tended to spend more time in Kamar-Taj or in other dimensions than he did in this one and the free time he had from that he spent in New York. The only reason the Hong Kong Sanctum was tracked down was because of the event with Dormammu. _Something_ must have been caught on _some_ camera, despite him rewinding time. If nothing else, three dudes dressed in weird clothes was bound to end up on the Internet and get _someone's_ attention. It's miracle enough that they hadn't come knocking on their doors sooner but that's not what worried Stephen. No, what worried him was this 'other source' that Fury had mentioned. Loki was a sorcerer and a strong and well trained one, from what _Stephen's_ sources had to say. He was listed on Stephen's watch list, as his intentions aren't quite clear. He's dangerous and, if his suspicions were correct, smart. He would keep a watch on the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth in order to determine whether he was in danger. It made sense that he knew at least _something_ about the Sorcerer Supreme (soon) to be.

This _other source_ , on the other hand, _disturbed_ Stephen with _any_ amount of knowledge they might have of him. Was it one of the remaining zealots that they haven't caught yet? Was it the thief of the Heart of Iron?

Fury was eyeing him again, probably reassessing his opinion and what he should say or not say. It was clear he was both comfortable and _very_ uncomfortable to be having a conversation with someone like Strange. The doctor found that even more suspicious. There was something Fury knew, something that Stephen himself would rather like to know, that he wasn't sharing with the class.

"I thought you and your team were all about transparency," he let the dig sink in, observing Fury for any reactions that might tell him just _what the hell_ had all his new magical instincts screaming.

"An old friend of mine, who is _very_ knowledgeable and _very_ well informed on _various_ topics, told me to seek you out," the older man relented, annoyance coloring his tone. "Unfortunately, despite my long history with this friend, I _still_ have no idea where all of this information comes from. She wields data much like you do magic."

 _'So it's a she?'_ That would seem unlikely given the guard of the vault on the day of the attack, only they were sorcerers who could bend reality to their will with a few hand gestures and finger movements. Anything was possible at this point. Stephen knew that best, especially the more he learned. "I have to warn you, even if I _were_ to join your little superhero boy band, it would be as a part time member. I have too much on my plate to be constantly on call. Only things that are magical, dimensional or catastrophic in nature, I'm afraid. I'll accept extraterrestrials as well. Think of it as me being generous."

Fury had this, well ... _strange_ , for the lack of a better word, look on his face by the time Stephen finished talking and it had nothing to do with the animated piece of cloth around his shoulders that was making subtle imitations of rude gestures at the director, which was impressive enough in and of itself. "If I didn't know better, I would have sworn you knew her," he muttered to himself before shaking his head and gesturing at the copy of Accords he had brought for the doctor. "Well, if that's the case, isn't it a happy coincidence that there's a clause for just these situations?" There was a sort of annoyed and genuinely impressed sarcasm in his voice, as though his respect only kept climbing for this mysterious source of his. Stephen was still pondering Fury's first sentence and trying to figure out just _how_ his snarky tendencies might remind him of someone else. He honestly thought that was impossible. Well, aside from the intelligence of a relic which is older than the universe itself.

"I can't guarantee I'll sign anything," was all he said in response, eyeing the contract with interest. Kamar-Taj has been removed from the world almost since its foundation. But times were changing and Stephen knew that. As Sorcerer Supreme - even though it still isn't official - his duty was to protect the Earth from mystical and magical threats, but often enough those same threats come from space. The Infinity Stones, one of which was the Time Stone he protected inside the Eye of Agamotto, sure as hell weren't on Earth or other random dimensions coexisting beside their own. They were somewhere out there and anyone could snatch them up and start causing chaos. Perhaps Kamar-Taj won't be able to deal with the big universe on its own. Their numbers were great but they can't do it all alone. Times were changing. The Avengers would be good allies. "Especially since I have a responsibility to the world beyond the physical one. I support the notion behind the Avengers and the Accords, but whoever is in the big brass has to understand that there will be times where I can't inform them of my every move in advance." _Not_ entirely true, given he can look into the future with the Time Stone but Fury doesn't need to know that. "I'll happily write a full report but better be aware that I don't take criticisms about how funny the names are or how ridiculous the whole mission or adventure or whatever you want to call it may seem. Except maybe on every other Thursday. That's a cosmically shit day."

It won't be until a year later that Stephen finally understands Fury's disturbed expression.


	8. Chapter 8

Months passed, Stephen became the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth and signed the Accords, then half a year passed and he had to start hunting down Mordo, who had gone rogue and was targeting all the people who had accepted their miracle and left Kamar-Taj after healing themselves by constantly channeling dimensional energy. The hunt lasted three months before he and Wong managed to corner Mordo in an abandoned base in Siberia, where their last battle took place before Mordo was taken to Kamar-Taj, his powers sealed and all memory of sorcery blocked from his mind. Mind manipulating magic was usually strictly forbidden except for people and cases who become a threat to themselves or everyone around them. Stephen hadn't liked it, but he'd honored his friend and mentor by installing a sense of peace and contentedness into his mind and heart so he doesn't fall into that same dark place from which the Ancient One had helped him crawl out of. He watched him leave Kathmandu with a heavy heart, lamenting the final loss of another teacher before he forced himself to let it go and focus back on his duties.

As he was now officially the Sorcerer Supreme, he sometimes had to hold lessons with the new recruits or train the older students. Still, most of the time, he was too busy fighting dimensional beings that kept popping up every now and then, stabilizing old protection spells and sealing runes, looked out for anyone on his watch list, mediated with benevolent beings from other dimensions, secured relics of great power, watched over the New York Sanctum as he was still its Master, kept an eye on any threats that might come from outer space that Fury was so worried about, finished up the capture of the last of Kaecilius' zealots, continued his search for the Heart of Iron and, as of recently, dealing with the Avengers.

The last two were by far the most exhausting, even though one he would never give up on while the other he wished he had never began. The Avengers as a whole were a headache he would really rather not deal with but he had signed his own fate and sanity over when he had accepted to be a part time member, something for which the reason still eluded him. He could have just as easily continued his solitary act with only keeping in touch with the Avengers if either side needed assistance and yet instead he had saddled himself with, despite their best efforts to make everything work, a ticking time bomb. Stephen decided that he was a masochist. He had to be, if he was allowing himself to go through this shit during their monthly meetings. Only an insane person would still be here, sitting and listening to the other members bitch about this and that.

Okay, so maybe he was a little salty at the moment but give him a break! A lead they had been tracking for the last five weeks had just turned out to be a dead end and Stephen was still no closer of finding the Heart of Iron and returning Toni home. Everyone else has already resigned themselves to only hearing about the Heart when someone decides to use its power, only to realize they didn't even _know_ the power it held and how it would register. Stephen was the only one still holding on to the hope of finding the relic instead of having to hunt it down. He refused to give up on Toni. He'll find her and then beg his ass off for forgiveness.

In the meantime, he was stuck with these idiots. Honestly, most of them weren't half bad but they still pissed him off on a _good_ day and today was definitely _not_ a day that could be considered a good one. Thor, the god of thunder from Norse mythology, was loud and often time too cheerful for an entire giant meeting room of people, swinging his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as he gesticulated and nearly taking people's heads off. His brother Loki, a Frost giant and the only other magic user and consultant, was his exact opposite but had these certain days when he would bitch like crazy and threaten to freeze people on ice. Captain America, or Steve Rogers, took this threat particularly personally, having been frozen in the Arctic for seventy years and that would usually start an argument between the entire group. They usually stopped when Dr Bruce Banner - at least _someone_ had a brain on the original line up of Avengers - started going a bit green, a sure sign that he was as annoyed as his alter ego, Hulk, or when Spider-Man - who sounded like a kid and was as likable and as excitable as a puppy - started getting upset. The others reassured Strange that the boy was usually much better at handling these things, since most of the time his mentor, Ms Stark, was around and he felt more at ease with her, but said mentor was probably the only member of the entirety of the Avengers initiative that never showed up to these mandatory meetings that Stephen was forced to attend. To be expected. She _was_ the boss of Stark Industries, the leading technological and scientific company in the world. She was supposedly a genius and can be a real ass but Stephen hadn't met her yet so he withheld judgement. Besides, _he_ was an asshole. He had no place to judge.

Of the original line up, all that remained were the Black Widow, Natasha Romanov, and Hawkeye, Clint Barton, agents of SHIELD and trained, professional assassins. They eyed Strange with utmost distrust and he readily returned the favor. _These_ were the people he had practiced a neutral mask for. He did his best not to remain in the same room as them for longer periods of time. The Cloak got twitchy around them and he knew for sure it would show them just _why_ Stephen rarely ever got even a scratch since they started their partnership of sorts. There were also other members that joined the team one by one, likely recruited in a manner similar to his own. Valkyrie, an actual Pegasus riding female warrior that could probably bench-press a dragon and adored Stephen's ability to give her infinite alcohol, and Heimdall, the watcher and one of the finest warriors of Asgard, often helped out when they could or were needed. Scott Lang, Ant Man, and Hope van Dyne, the Wasp, a shrinking and growing pair that could communicate and command all types of ants. Colonel James Rhodes, War Machine, and Major Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, brought in by Ms Stark since the Colonel was her best friend and the Major was his girlfriend with powers gotten from the Tesseract, a.k.a. the Space Stone and a hero mostly dealing with threats all around the universe, which Stephen could get behind as he understood that level of responsibility and burden. Fury had known about her for years but refrained from calling her unless the situation is _dire_. Apparently Ms Stark knew how to get what she wants. Stephen can appreciate that. There was also a Sargent James Barnes, who was as part time as Stephen was, give what he had been through. Apparently, he had nearly died back in 1945, got rescued, fixed up and brainwashed by HYDRA in order to be turned into the Winter Soldier, the most wanted criminal and enhanced assassin on the planet, and he had only recently been returned home. His medical and legal proxy was Ms Stark herself and she and Barnes had both decided that the man shouldn't be on the active roster while being rid of the Winter Soldier conditioning with her experimental technology - BARF; oh by the Vishanti, how he had to repress laughter whenever someone who couldn't be bothered to say the full name used the acronym when talking about Barnes' recovery rate, which was impressive enough. He was almost ready for active duty, should he ever decide to return to that life - though Rogers often looked like he had sucked a lemon whenever that was brought up. It would seem he and 'Bucky' - Stephen kind of pitied the man for such a ridiculous nickname - were childhood friends and WWII buddies.

How was this Stephen's life again?

Besides them, there was another part time member, Prince T'Challa of Wakanda as the Black Panther and his sister Shuri, a technological consultant and a sort of ward? Protégé? Mentee? to Ms Stark, much like Spider-Man and Rescue, as well as a part of the Young Avengers along with some other teens such as Ms Marvel and Inferno. There were potential recruits that were still being looked into that Stephen hadn't met so far and then there were entire other _teams_ that fell under the Avengers Initiative by technicality due to signing the Accords. The Fantastic Four, the X-Men and their subdivision of teen mutants powerful, mature and experienced enough to occasionally be called out on the field, a team of Inhumans, the Brotherhood, the Defenders and even a team of aliens calling themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy. Heck, even Deadpool's team of three, the X-Force or whatever. All teams brought in by Ms Stark. Stephen was almost impressed enough to want to meet her. Sure, no all of them could be there at every meeting but they were all on standby should they be needed.

And now they had all been called to assemble and everyone was there. Everyone except Ms Stark. Stephen was beginning to question if the woman was even _real_. _'I mean, we_ all _showed up. I even got_ Wong _to come along. Even_ Wade _was acting like a responsible grownup. So where is_ she _?'_

"I'm sure all of you are wondering why we called you here on such short notice," Fury began as he marched into the giant meeting room with Agents Hill and Coulson of SHIELD and Agent Ross of CIA and the UN and Accords Councils flanking him with a scary looking business woman Stephen recognized as the CEO of Stark Industries and supposedly Ms Stark's right hand woman in tow. They made for a right paragon of seriousness and bad news that instantly shut everyone up and made them pay attention. Usually, these meetings were led by only one of the agents or one of the agents with the director. This line up left them all rather uneasy. "As usually not even HYDRA gets this much attention from us, as many of you may know. However, the situation at hand is now far more dire than any we've faced before. A threat we've been preparing for."

"The Mad Titan comes," Loki whispered in response, fear coloring his voice, but in the dead silence of the room, everyone heard him as though he had shouted it at the top of his lungs. "He took longer than I thought he would. He _does_ have the Space Stone now. He could have gotten here at any time he wanted."

"Wait, Space Stone? What's Space Stone? What are you even talking about? And are you talking about a comic book series?" Barton asked incredulously and everyone was looking at Fury for an explanation, but the man's one eye was trained on the Sorcerer Supreme.

"Doctor Strange, if you will?"

Stephen sighed but obliged. "Long ago, there was nothing. And then _bang_." He enjoyed how everyone jumped when he made a little light show to go with his story, replicating the Big Bang with a small, harmless explosion. Wong rolled his eyes beside him while Fury once again got that disturbed look Stephen had seen aimed his way a year ago. Okay, this was just getting odd. He decided to ignore it as it would seem the ball was finally rolling and now everyone's attention was on _him_. Joy. "The Big Bang scattered six stones across the virgin universe. Each of the six stones represents one aspect of existence," he explained as the images of the stones appeared, lighting up as he sounded them off for all to see. "Space. Reality. Mind. Power. Soul. And Time," this time, he put his hands in front of the Eye of Agamotto, took a deep breath and opened it, showing within the shinning emerald Stone he was tasked with protecting with his life. Even after all this time, he still couldn't believe _he_ was the one it had chosen to rely on for protection. The whole room was now watching him in awe, listening carefully, even as he closed the Eye and waved away the illusionary images of the Infinity Stones. "These Infinity Stones have, as their name would suggest, _infinite_ power. Just one is enough to destroy worlds. If all six were to be collected and used all at once, the lives that could be lost would be on a level hitherto undreamt of."

"Did you just _seriously_ say hitherto undreamt of?"

"Did you _seriously_ take only _that_ from all that was said?" The green angry alien woman, Gamora, barked at the archer, who shrank back with a healthy dose of fear.

"Hey, just trying to lighten up the gloom and doom atmosphere going on here."

"If father comes, we are not ready." The blue alien cyborg lady, Nebula if he got that right, said instead of acknowledging Hawkeye's response. "Even less so if he has _any_ of the Infinity Stones."

"I thought you said the Tesseract would be safe on Asgard?" Hill challenged the Asgardians and Heimdall looked away, seemingly ashamed.

"It _would_ have been had _you_ kept the Scepter with the Mind Stone secure," Loki snapped in response, glaring daggers at the unimpressed woman. "Lady Stark promised me protection and assistance. The four of us," he gestured at his fellow Asgardians and himself. "Barely escaped with our lives while trying to escape with it. And they still got it."

"Had it not been for her, I would have been dead," Heimdall revealed and Stephen wondered just _who_ this Stark woman was. She was seriously starting to sound a bit too legendary to be a real person. Then again, they had all thought _Thor_ and his ilk were only legends, too, and look how _that_ turned out.

"Asgard only stands because Lady Stark has managed to help Hela and Odin bridge the gaps in their relationship before she could decimate Asgard," Valkyrie said gravely, a shudder going through her. "The Allfather has fallen into the Odinsleep and Princess Hela is all that stands between the Nine Realms and chaos."

"Thank the Norns we have such a scary older sister," both brothers murmured reverently, confusing the fuck out of everyone. Stephen guessed he understood. After all, wasn't _Hela_ supposed to be _Loki's child_ in Norse legends?

"Wait, what does Stark have to do with that?" The Black Widow asked, everyone now turning their attention to her staring the Asgardians and the director down. "What aren't you telling us, Nick?"

"Never gonna let anyone call you anything but Fury, huh?" Danverse asked but Rocket called for their attention before they could get too off track. It just says something about his life when talking raccoons and space trees are things he no longer bats an eyelash at.

"We have things to worry about here, people! As Nebula said, we are _seriously_ unprepared for that big purple sack of nuts if he has _one_ Stone and as of right now," he took out a device with a big screen and showed them what looked like a whole planet destroyed. All of the Guardians wore grim expressions. "He has three that we can safely confirm. Mind, Space and Power."

"With the Power Stone, it won't take him long to locate the remaining ones," Wong warned. "The Time Stone has been protected by the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj for millennia but we won't be enough against someone capable of and wielding three Infinity Stones."

"I thought that was impossible," Drax, the green-gray one with red markings over his body, half asked, half stated. "I thought wielding only _one_ was impossible."

"Through using certain mediums, it's _quite_ possible," Loki and Stephen said at the same time, giving each other barely a glance of acknowledgement. "Like Loki's Scepter or the Eye of Agamotto."

"Or the Sphere," Rocket added and Danvers finished the list by adding the Tesseract. "But I've never heard of _anything_ being able to handle that much power and radiation as the Stones radiate. Anyone who tries would probably be blown up."

"I know someone who could," Rhodes speaks up for the first time since the meeting started. "Tones could. But since that son of a bitch would never dare show his face in front of her without the sparkly rocks, the only other place he could have gotten anything like that would be Nivadellir."

"Wait, are you saying that place is _real_?" Rocket and Peter Quill, a.k.a. Starlord, asked with far too much enthusiasm.

"According to my best friend, yeah, it sure as hell is. And it's an easy target."

Heimdall nodded, gaze far away. "It would seem that when I was trapped by the Mind Stone, not only the vault was raided. Nivadellir is in ruins. Thankfully, the dwarves weren't all killed but a weapon was made, of Uru, to control the power of the Infinity Stones. As we speak, Hela's troops are helping the survivors. They were ready for an assault."

"Not ready enough," the strawberry blond that was the SI CEO said bitterly, glaring at the two Odinsons as though _they_ were at fault.

"She gave Odin a date," Rhodes stated confidently, accusingly. "Why didn't he do more? All those lives ... And the danger we are now in! It could have been prevented."

"Father didn't know how much he could trust her," Thor defended and even he sounded like he couldn't believe that level of bullshit. The Colonel and the Major beside him looked like they hadn't heard a more stupid statement or defense in their lives. Considering the arguments that followed, Strange fully agreed.

"She told you about Loki, she told you all about how he was going to loose it because Odin was hiding it for so long, she told you how you two were going to fight," he said all of this while looking Thor in the eyes. "She told you the exact date Loki would return, controlled with the Mind Stone by that bastard, she told you about the Aethar, she _saved your mother's life_ and _stopped Odin's dickishness and thickheadedness from dooming all of Asgard_. She _gave you a date_. Why didn't you do more?"

"We did as best we could without drawing father's attention to it," Loki replied. "Heimdall and the Valkyries helped. Had it not been for our intervention at all, Hela's troops would be stacking bodies instead of helping survivors."

"Now isn't the time to be squabbling about this," Fury said with a warning tone in his voice. "Earth is in danger, as is the rest of the universe. We don't know if this motherfucker has the last two Infinity Stones but we have the absolute last one here and we need to protect it."

"Why not just, you know, throw it down a garbage disposal and be done with it?" Rhodes asked and they all turned incredulous eyes on him. "I mean, it _is_ the Time Stone, right? If the name suggests right, it control's time. Doesn't that hypothetically mean that it could _reverse_ time if any of the other Stones were to be destroyed? Say we had a way to destroy the Mind Stone, for example. What's to stop that fucker from simply taking that overpriced emerald from you and bringing it back?" They all just continued staring at him. "As opposed to destroying the Time Stone, which can't be brought back since there won't be anything that can reverse time. There. Problem solved."

"Problem _not_ solved," snapped the Sorcerer Supreme. "Even ignoring the part where the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj have sworn to protect the Stone with _our lives_ , the only way to destroy an Infinity Stone is if a powerful enough energy of a near identical or identical signature _and_ aspect of existence is used against it. That would either require hundreds of extremely powerful and well trained sorcerers or a single vessel to house all the Stones and then turn their powers against each other so they implode and scatter into atoms. Neither of which is particularly doable or smart, especially in regards to the Time Stone. Perhaps Major Danverse would have been able to destroy the Space Stone given that's where her powers come from and the Power Stone would probably be possible to destroy if a large enough number of sorcerers and mages were to tune in their energy to that of the Power Stone and then just attacked it as a cohesive group and so on for the other Stones, but time magic only exists because of the Time Stone. There is nothing else that has control over time. And imploding a _single_ Infinity Stone by itself? That just _begs_ to rip reality apart. If you want shit like _that_ then let me just open a quick portal to the Dark Dimension and invite Dormammu through. It might even be the more favorable death sentence than slowly ceasing to exist one atom at a time."

"Okay, so we obviously won't be destroying the Time Stone," Lang was quick to divert the attention away from the horror Stephen had just painted. "What about hiding it in another dimension? Or the Quantum Realm? I'm pretty sure this guy doesn't have any Pym Particles on him or an Ant Man suit."

"He won't need either if he gets his hands on the Reality Stone. Between it and the Space Stone, no corner of existence is a safe hiding place," Loki piped in, making Lang deflate. "Any other ideas?"

"Can't we, I don't know, mask its energy signature or something?" Dr Banner suggested. "The Stones have Gamma radiation. I'm a Gamma radiation expert. Maybe I can find a way." He paused, considering, before throwing it out. "Or maybe the other guy can swallow it?" At the looks the Asgardians and the sorcerers gave him at that, Banner shrugged, took off his glasses and started cleaning them in a nervous habit. "Just a thought."

"What did Ms Stark say?" Ms Marvel asked after a long bout of silence. Fury got this constipated look on his face as he answered.

"To assemble and get ready. The fight will be coming to us and soon. The fucker and his army were already in the solar system when I called for this meeting."

"Do you even have his name?" Rogers asked, sounding a bit frustrated. "I would like to at least to know the name of the guy I'll be punching." The others nodded in agreement, even Stephen and Wong. Ms Stark's closer circle, though, had these stormy expressions on their faces that suggested they might already know the answer.

"You won't be punching him," it was Nebula still who answered in that accented, lilting voice of hers, sounding as chilling as ever. "Thanos will be punching you."


	9. Chapter 9

As if to make a bad day worse, not a minute after Nebula spoke the name of their enemy, all the alarms in SHIELD started blaring warnings about something that just entered the atmosphere and moments later, all the screens in the crowded meeting room lit up to show an alien invasion descending on New York, civilians screaming and running for their lives. There were thousands of them and even more seem to be coming from the open wormhole in the skies of New York, above Manhattan. Everything from skinny, gray humanoid creatures with four arms in scarce armor to flying space whales, for the lack of a better description, from small hoverboards made for maximum two to giant flying rings and what appeared to be a mothership of some sort.

Needless to say, it was no wonder people were scared and running for their lives.

"You had to ask," Barnes grumbled at Rogers even as they all stared at the images, sick fear curling in their own stomachs. Stephen imagined he was probably the best off out of them all. While the Asgardians must have faced some serious shit and the Guardians of the Galaxy and Danvers have crossed the better part of the universe and also fought all sorts of creatures, they had also faced this 'Thanos' before and had seen what he can do. And that scared them. Stephen could understand. The amount of destruction they said the Mad Titan brought upon dozens of worlds was staggering. But Strange had faced Dormammu, had seen what the demon had done to _millions_ of worlds and dimensions, had died countless times until the demon grew sick of him and accepted his bargain just to throw him out. As a result, Stephen didn't scare easy. Right now, all he felt was dread and unease, barely a speck of fear and that's more directed at all those lives that might be lost in the upcoming battle.

"We need to get down there!" Shouted Rogers, standing up from his seat. Not that anyone disagreed, all of them already checking their gear. It was a good thing that meetings like this required them to be in full uniform. It meant Stephen can just start opening a portal with the help of his sling ring that would land them nearly right underneath the wormhole. They were all already ready to go.

"Wong," he called to his friend and the librarian only nodded, opening his own portal and stepping through to Kamar-Taj to gather all the available and trained sorcerers to help them in the fight. The newbies will have to stay with a few masters to protect Kamar-Taj, should the invasion spread, as well as the Sanctums. Should they fall, whatever they do in New York won't matter. The Dark Dimension will bleed into theirs and his bargain with Dormammu won't mean much. And even _without_ the threat of Dormammu, there's still countless other threats that would endanger Earth should the shields fall. Protecting the Sanctums and Kamar-Taj will have to be their first priority lest something so much worse than this alien invasion descend upon them. He looked back to the other Avengers and the people who managed them. Fury and Ross nodded to him and he returned it before gesturing to his teammates to follow him through the portal. They did so with no hesitation.

On the other side, it was already chaos. People were running all over the place, trying to escape the creatures swarming their city. There were near deafening roars filling the air and the wormhole in the sky was a thing of nightmares that only spewed even more nightmares as more and more of those creatures came through. "The Chitauri," Thor breathed and Loki beside him was tense. The only ones even more ill at ease with the army they were about to face were Nebula and Gamora, both of them gripping their weapons as tightly as it was possible.

"The Outriders," the green sister hissed when one of the ring-shapped ships finally opened and black creatures, far larger and sturdier looking than the Chitauri, started falling to the ground. Between the two armies and the air forces in the sky, the odds looked bleak. Stephen hoped reinforcements were going to come.

"Hela was supposed to be fighting them," Valkyrie sounded unsure as she watched the creatures that had wrecked chaos on _Asgard_ start running around the much weaker city of New York. The civilians were now in serious danger, as the Outriders were a lot faster than the Chitauri. Stephen didn't hesitate as he constructed a selective portal and transported all of the people still in the streets and buildings too close to the center of this mess outside of the set police perimeter, where they and the arriving military personnel will be able to at least buy them some time should this spread.

"She needs to protect Asgard," Thor replied to that, sounding sour. "As the heir, it is her duty to keep our world safe first before any of the other Realms. Until Odin can resume his protection, Hela is all that stands between Asgard and chaos. Surtir won't dare take a chance with her around to help mother defend our realms. Ragnarok is not something Earth needs to suffer the fallout from at this moment."

"Princess Hela is sending reinforcements," Heimdall broke into their conversation. "I need time to transfer them all."

"We'll buy you time," Loki swore and the other Asgardians formed a circle around the all-seeing man as he opened the Bifrost and out started to come soldiers. Stephen tried not to show how much relief he felt when their numbers started increasing.

"Call it, Cap," said War Machine as they all prepared to take their roles in this fight. It was going to be a long battle that awaits them. They all knew they couldn't lose. If they did, Earth was screwed. They needed to work as a cohesive group.

"Okay. I need Hawkeye up on the tallest but safest building, calling the shots. Thor, War Machine, Captain Marvel, keep the skies clear. Ant Man, try to take out one of those flying whale things or one of the ships. Wasp, it's up to you to figure out how that portal operates, whether it's purely magic or if there's technology involved-"

"It's made by the Tesseract," Loki interrupted Captain America. "Or rather, the Space Stone. Thanos has a means to control it, obviously. There is no off switch to flip, I'm afraid. Closing that thing will involve taking the stone from him." He paused, seemingly considering an idea, before continued resolutely. "I believe I can put a cork in it, so to say. It's temporary at best and it will only slow them down. They'll just gather on the other side so when the cork breaks, I need someone who can obliterate as many of them as they can before they overwhelm me while I make a new 'cork'."

"Change of plan. Thor goes with him. Valkyrie helps Carol and Rhodes. Falcon, Bucky, you guys need to keep them away from civilians and coordinate with the armed forces. Spider-Man, Inferno, Ms Marvel and Rescue are to guard the perimeter and assist if called upon. The Guardians of the Galaxy do your thing. You know how to fight these things better than we do. The other groups will cover other parts of the city, but it's up to us to keep as many contained here as possible. Wakanda is sending in reinforcements," he looks to Stephen, who nods. "And will be coming soon with the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj. Look alive, people. And Banner?" The scientist already looked resigned with his fate. "We need to Hulk to smash," the Captain said while pointing up at the Chitauri clinging to the sides of the buildings all over the place, screeching at them. Banner sighed and let himself turn into the Hulk, all green and gleeful to have a chance to smash. With a roar, he was off, soon after followed by everyone else. Stephen was about to go, too, when a hand landed on his shoulder, holding him back. "Doctor Strange?"

The Sorcerer Supreme turned around and faced Rogers, seeing an uncertain look on the blond's face. "Yes, Captain?"

The supersoldier looked extremely uncomfortable. "Can you ... Can't you do something about all of this? I mean, you have the Time Stone and all ... Couldn't it turn back time?"

Strange just shook his head. "Messing with the natural law will only cause us more problems. My order will be here soon to provide us with more backup. We just need to hold out long enough."

"And you're sure you should be here?" Stephen actually bristled at that, making Rogers raise his hands in a surrendering, placating manner. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I only meant this Thanos is coming for the Infinity Stone, right? Shouldn't you go hide somewhere?"

"He has the Space and Reality Stones, Captain Rogers," Stephen told him gravely even as he started casting spells when he noticed some of the creatures were getting too close to them for his liking. Rogers, in testimony to how used he was to the weird shit happening in the 21st century, didn't even blink when burning red chains appeared out of the ground and tore their enemies apart, scattering their guts and splashing their blood all over the place. "There's nowhere left for me to hide."

"Keeping that Stone out of his hands is our top priority," the man out of time reminded the man usually _protecting_ and _controlling_ time. "You might want to get out of here. We'll buy you some time. Maybe someone in your order may know how to hide that thing."

"It _stays_ with _me_ ," Stephen said through grit teeth, sending a powerful blast just past Rogers to disintegrate a Chitauri soldier taking aim for Rogers' head. "The Eye of Agamotto has a protection spell neigh unbreakable. Even if I die, Thanos won't be able to break it and take the Stone. This isn't the first time my order has been protecting a powerful artifact, Captain." The spell was derived from the ones set up to protect the vault guarding the Heart of Iron. The only difference was that Stephen had insisted upon ten other masters in helping him cast it so that whatever helped someone breach the vault and take the Heart can't happen to the Eye and the Time Stone within.

"If you're sure it can hold, then I'll have to trust you, was all the man got to say before a strange, rumbling noise from a little bit down the street drew their attention. If Stephen was honest, the aliens in front of them looked like those two galactic criminals from Lilo and Stitch, only a bit more wrinkly. Although the shorter one could probably pass as Squidward, too, now that he thought about it. And the bigger one resembled a rhino. It says a _lot_ about both their lives when neither Steve nor Stephen batted an eyelash at the weirdness of battling aliens in their lives.

"Hear me and rejoice," the smaller alien said haughtily, as though he was announcing a great honor or something along those lines. "For you are about to be slain by the children of Thanos." Both blue eyed men tensed at that, Rogers tightening his hold on his Vibranium shield and Strange creating a glowing mandala one. "Your meaningless lives are about to contribute-"

He was cut off by what Stephen recognized as a repulsor blast and both men looked up, expecting to find War Machine or Rescue there, but it was instead a gray robot with small eyes and a disturbingly familiar light in its chest. Stephen had only seen them on TV before but only a blind man that had lived under a rock for the past ten or so years wouldn't recognize one of the robots from Stark's Iron Legion. There were three others already closing in on the bigger alien while the smaller one shook of his shock, now entirely focused on destroying the robot. It was, unfortunately, far too easy, as it turned out he had telekinesis. Soon enough, all four robots were not only torn apart but were also turned into sharp spikes that space Squidward now sent barreling their way while his partner recovered. More Iron Legionaries came to their rescue, at most distracting long enough for the two men to get in a few good throws of a shield or a spell or two to injure their foes. But then the skinny one would just repeat his earlier steps and the process would start all over again. Just as Stephen was wondering what the hell the robots were doing, Rogers laughed at his side as they hid behind his Shields of Seraphim.

"Looks like Ms Stark is buying some time!"

Stephen wanted to argue that it wasn't helping anyone or buying anyone _any_ time but rather wasting it when the bigger alien charged at them. Only to be stopped by that Cable guy that sometimes hung out with Deadpool crashing into him from literally out of nowhere, Spider-Man for reasons unknown watching his back. "It seems the perimeter's been broken."

"That would explain the amount of Legionaries out here," Rogers consented and both men sighed in relief when they heard the opening of portals and the Wakandan battle chants. The skinny bastard could maybe hold of spells cast hastily by one sorcerer, even if it was the Sorcerer Supreme, but not when two thirds of the order descended upon him with various spells. Rogers eventually managed to throw his shield and clip him on the head, making him fly back a good ten feet or more. Up in the air, Danvers just burst through one of the bigger ships just as it was preparing to fire on the city. Stephen cursed and focused on opening a portal the size of the Great Pyramid in the last second before it could crash into the city bellow.

"Carol, try not to _destroy_ the city in an attempt to _save_ it," he snapped into his comm unit before turning back to the situation around him, finding Wong by his side. "Is that all?" Their numbers didn't look nearly as impressive as the combined armies their enemy had brought.

"What? You wanted _more_?" Wong asked him incredulously and Stephen shrugged.

"More would have been great."

"Unbelievable!" Muttered the Asian sorcerer to himself and was without a doubt about to go into some long winded rant when a portal completely dissimilar to their own started opening in front of them. The entire group tensed as they observed the cloudy, blue, glowing wormhole very similar to the one in the sky soon brought to them a purple behemoth that had Stephen's hair standing on end and the Time Stone pulsing alarm and familiarity, the later no doubt directed at the five gleaming Stones resting in the gaudy, gold glove on the alien's huge hand. The newcomer just looked around at them all before his eyes zeroed in on the Eye of Agamotto, sending all the humans on high alert. And yet no one made a move to start the confrontation that was inevitably to come.

"You must be Thanos," Strange spoke with a confidence he didn't feel when the silence stretched save for the portal giving a small 'pop' when it closed behind the Mad Titan. "You are trespassing in the city and on this planet. Leave now. This is your first and only warning."

"Stonekeeper, where does this courage come from, I wonder?" The purple being mused, ignoring everything Stephen had just said as though he hadn't spoken at all. He smirked at the Sorcerer Supreme in this pitying, condescending way that had Stephen bristling and his magic already crackling just beneath his skin, ready to answer his call. "You haven't even looked into the future, have you? No, of course not," he sounded greatly and gleefully amused my that, for whatever reason. "If you had, you would have known that this little act of rebellion is fruitless. I've always known this day would come, that I would stand on Earth unchallenged."

"Congratulations, you're a prophet." That drew Thanos for a short, probably surprised by the amount of sarcasm and irony Strange could pack in those four words. "And a bad one, too. You _are_ challenged. The Avengers will stop you."

"Perhaps once you would have stood a chance, but I have taken care of that a long time ago." Something about that sentence sent deep dread and wariness through Stephen's core. He wasn't even sure how to react. "So why don't you spare your planet even more loss during this bloody and pointless war and just hand over the Time Stone. Your allies stand no chance."

"We can do this all day," Rogers said from his side, looking ready to charge the purple giant at any second. The rest of their group echoed that either by powering up their Vibranium advanced weaponry or by activating various mandala shields and the beginnings of attack spells. Somewhere in another part of the city, thunder rumbled and lightning rolled across the sky. In the opposite direction, the Hulk's roar was quite distinguishable as he grounded another one of those giant flying space wales. Up in the sky, Rescue, Carol and War Machine tried to keep the skies clear even as Loki kept using his Frost Giant magic to block the portal with ice, over and over again, spreading a chill through New York that might leave the buildings closest to the portal with questionable structural integrity after all of this is over.

Valkyrie landed on her Pegasus beside them, Hope turning back to her normal size as she got off of her shoulder and Gamora and Nebula dismounted. Hundreds of Asgardian soldiers led by Heimdall fell in line behind them and Ms Marvel, Inferno and the two SHIELD assassins fell in line with them. Thanos' own forces were falling in line behind them, a very pissed and bloody skinny Squidward-like alien glaring daggers at them all even as everyone else fell into battle stances all around, Rhodes, Rescue, Carol, Barnes, Wilson, Hulk and Thor also joining them on their side. Only ones missing were Lang, Quill, Rocket, Groot and Drax - and Clint, who was no doubt on some roof above them - whom Strange would guess were stuck guarding Loki while the Frost Giant kept the portal as closed for as long as possible and killing as much of the forces that try to come through when the ice breaks or melts. They could certainly use all the numbers at their side right now but that portal needs managing even more.

"Fury says we need to wait for Stark," Natasha informed them in a sotto voice meant only for the comms to pick up. "We need to hold out as long as we can until she comes. She apparently has a secret weapon to fight these guys she's been preparing since only god knows when."

"Well, that's at least good news," Kind T'Challa comments as they all eye up the opposite side. "We'll need all the help we can get."

"Keeping him away from Strange is our priority," Thor announced, grip tight on both of his weapons, Stormbreaker the ax he had apparently gotten after Stark convinced him it will one day be needed and Mjolnir his legendary magical hammer. Together, the two weapons quite possibly made Thor one of strongest people in the Nine Realms. "He mustn't get his hands on the Time Stone."

"Then we'll defend it together," Steve declared, tightening the strap of his shield and his jaw. Not even he was able to hide how much all of this scared him. Not even the Black Widow could hide it.

Stephen thought of Toni and wondered how she would act right now if she were by his side. He shoot those thoughts aside and concentrated on the battle about to begin. He had to survive and to defeat this enemy if he ever wanted to see her again. Now was not the time to lament what he had so foolishly lost, even if he had only known for less than a week that he could have never had anything beyond companionship.

He had nothing to say to his companions, to his sorcerers, to the people he could say he proudly called teammates even though he didn't really particularly like any of them. He could only give his own war cry when they all yelled in one voice:

"Avengers assemble!"


	10. Chapter 10

They didn't stand a chance. Not against the army and especially not against the Titan wielding five Infinity Stones. Thanos knocked them down like they were houses of cards made by a five year old. There was nothing they could do to stop him as he barreled through them and finally reached the Sorcerer Supreme.

Stephen fought tooth and nail, lasting longer than all of the others combined. He drew on the power of the Earth, of the Sanctums, of Kamar-Taj and every dimension but the sinister ones, he dished out every spell in his impressive repertoire and called upon his memory even for ones he had not fully mastered. He put in every last ounce of his power into it and he had some glorious moments, like holding the Titan down on his own for a significant amount of time until the purple behemoth used the Stones to repel him or turning a black hole into a swarm of butterflies. He opened dimensions, closed realities Thanos tried to drown him in, escaped numerous space traps and resisted blasts of immense power but, in the end, he was still mortal. He still slipped up and Thanos swatted him away like an annoying fly with a scary amount of ease.

He lay now in the dirt and destruction of his city, staring up at the triumphant Titan as Thanos used the Power Stone and the Reality Stone to pry the Eye of Agamotto open. He and several other masters were convulsing in pain as the spells they had put pieces of their very own life force into were torn apart and yet not really. He was the only one still struggling to get to his feet, still trying to fight. For him, pain was an old friend and he refused to let it cripple him at such an important moment. He had not allowed it to happen after his accident and he sure as hell won't now. Not when the fate of the _universe_ , all those trillions of lives, hung in balance and it was up to him - the last man still capable of trying to get to his feet - to tip the scales in their benefit. Even Rogers and Thor couldn't get up, the former stuck in a fake reality where he never went under the ice and the latter drained of all his power temporarily so he collapsed in a dead faint worthy of any scandalized maiden of old. It was only thanks to the added support of the Cloak of Levitation and his own masochistic determination that Stephen was still trying to get back up.

He had let Toni down once. Letting some giant purple wrinkly grape destroy the universe she had watched grow was unacceptable. He _refused_ to let her down a second time. Even if the probability of the Heart of Iron being destroyed to take it's power grew by the second. He couldn't give up. _'I have to keep fighting.'_ And yet he collapsed like a babe every time he got his feet under him. He was worn down. He was just _so tired_. But he was Sorcerer Supreme. It was up to Stephen to protect his world. He had accepted this responsibility and being a bit tired was no excuse to fail.

"Oh, look how pathetic it is," snarled the Squidward-look-alike alien who was still vindictive because Stephen has an entire order of sorcerers ready to follow him and his 'quaint tricks' and he didn't. "So feeble, so weak. Perhaps we should put it out of it's misery, Master."

Thanos made a humming sound and watched Stephen with a sort of malicious glee that hadn't been present no matter at whom or at what low point he had watched them before that moment. "Yes, I suppose you are right, Maw. However," he stopped his overeager follower from wrapping a cable around Stephen's neck and strangling him to death. "For how he fought, I believe he deserves a honorable death at the hands of his better. His struggle was almost worthy of respect. But only _almost_ ," he said tauntingly as he marched towards Strange, laughing as the tattered and torn Cloak tried to get its master out of his reach but the battle has taken its toil on it as much as it had on everyone else. The Titan reached them in no time and simply grabbed Stephen by his neck, uncaring and untouched by Stephen's feeble attempts to kick him away. "But there is, in the end, only one person worthy of my trust and you are not her. But you _have_ stolen her from me on multiple occasions." At the incredulous stare the former neurosurgeon gave him, Thanos just tutted as though scolding a child. "And yet you don't even remember her. Shame. But I have finally found a way to defeat her. The universe will be all the worse for it but I had to erase her before it was born if I wanted to finally end our struggle." Alarm shot through Stephen and he didn't even know why. There was just something to the madman's monologue that set him on edge and his rapidly losing oxygen brain was struggling to figure out _what_ it was. Thanos didn't notice or didn't care for his reaction, just continuing. He sure as hell loved hearing his own voice. "Perhaps she will be born into another lifetime, where she can appreciate my work. Until then, I have won and will have to contend myself with ending _your_ miserable life so no one can steal her from me when she _does_ eventually emerge in some next life."

And then he started squeezing and Stephen thought this was it, he was going to die-

A sonic boom and a wave of power unlike any he had ever felt before suddenly burst into the area, knocking down and back the Black Order and a good number of the other aliens as something red and gold landed in front of them and blasted Thanos at point blank, sending the Titan _flying_ backwards as though the rest of them haven't been trying to do that for the past who knows how many hours and remained unsuccessful. Strange was released and barely managed not to fall on his ass, but he did have to step back and lean on some nearby rubble, watching in shock the one responsible for the Titan's fall.

At first, he just thought it was another of the Iron Legionaries, but those were never this vibrantly colored or this sleek. Red and gold, curved to fit the wearers body like a second, if metallic skin, Stephen had no trouble realizing this was Stark's newest suit, probably the secret weapon Romanov had said they needed to wait for. The Sorcerer Supreme had seen the legendary armor of the Iron Maiden only on TV and the Internet, maybe from a distance while he was still a doctor and the genius, billionaire hero would take flights around New York, helping construction workers or stopping more dangerous crimes that the police forces couldn't handle on their own without property damage or lives being put in danger, their own or the civilians'. Now that he was seeing it up close, it was hard not to be in awe at the technological marvel. He couldn't even see the overlapping of the metal plates that must have covered all the machinery that helped to move the armor.

Thanos and his followers were scrambling to their feet but the not downed Chitauri and Outriders were faster, launching themselves at Iron Maiden. The armored hero just dispatched some sort of proton cannons from her back and took aim with them and her repulsors, taking out a third of the creatures trying to attack her. Another good third was taken care of by miniature missiles that worked better than some of the biggest ones the army used. The rest Stark took care of by firing her famous repulsor blasts and forming weaponry like hammering rams and swords and shields out of her armor, which Strange was beginning to wonder if it was made out of some magical metal for all the shit it can do or if it was ... nanobots. Both seemed likely, given how well she seemed to get along with the Asgardians. Stark truly made short work of the first wave of enemies, soon encountering a second and then a third. She was twisting and turning, flying, slicing, firing, kicking and punching, seemingly a one woman army as well as an arsenal. She took punches as though they didn't even graze her and she dodged blows Stephen doubts even someone like Thor or Rogers can manage, despite their enhancements or battle experience. Iron Maiden was pulling off martial arts moves that were as effective as the Black Widow's but lacking the complicated flashiness of the movements. He wasn't sure how strong her suit made her, but she stood up to the biggest guy in the Black Order with ease, blocking his first charge with a shield formed out of her arm and then blasting him with her weapons.

What shocked Stephen the most wasn't even when, in her fight with Squidward lookalike she started using magic. She just seemed to figure out that while her repulsors had no problem landing through the alien's telekinetic powers, they could be stopped by throwing an obstacle in their path. So Stark just did that same hand gesture Kaecilius and his followers did and made one of those near invisible magical spears that easily cut through whatever obstacles was punt in front of it. That was how 'Maw', as Thanos addressed him, died, overconfident in his powers when faced against a human. Stark kept using magic after that, shields and glowing magical swords along with the solid hologram shields she used to protect a larger range when attacked by the tall elf-like woman alien and her even more elf-like partner.

No, what surprised and shocked Strange the most was the color of her magic and the object on her chest.

The Heart of Iron.

He would recognize it anywhere.

It at least explained the unbelievably strong pulse of energy that had knocked them off their feet. Still, rage filled him at the realization that Stark was using _Toni_ to power her Iron Maiden suits. The secret weapon bit made sense now. The Heart of Iron was ridiculously overpowered, as far as his order knows. Not that anyone really has any clear information about all of its powers, or any to be precise. He had often wondered if even the Ancient One knew what Toni was capable of, despite the long years the two knew each other. Not that it mattered much at the moment. He didn't care for the power it stored. He didn't even care how Stark got it. He just wanted Toni back. He wanted nothing more than to march up to Stark and take the Heart back. He, of course, couldn't do that. Not when Stark was doing what none of them could despite the things they were ready to sacrifice for this victory. They had tried and they had failed. They didn't make the cut, couldn't measure up to the Mad Titan and the immense army he had brought along. The Black Order itself had been hard to fight against and Stark had already downed two of them, the male elf lookalike going down when she struck him with red lightning Stephen recognized as a spell he himself had used against Thanos but the Titan had just absorbed it with the Power Stone. The alien elf woman gave a piercing cry of vengeance and attacked in a blind rage, nearly stabbing Stark through with her spear had the woman not flown into the air at the last second. She continued firing energy blasts at her from her spear but Stark had no difficulty in dodging, even more agile in the air with the ease of long years of practice.

::Avengers! Does anyone copy?:: Fury's voice came from the communicator in his ear and Stephen raised a shaking hand to tap it.

"Doctor Strange here. I copy."

::Doctor, can you tell me what the fuck is going on down there?! A massive surge of energy appeared a few minutes ago and it wiped out most of our surveillance drones and the traffic and security cameras in the area. We're running blind. Do you need any assistance? I think I can get more of the X-Men to join you in the fight and the other teams seem to be slowly handling their sectors.::

Stephen paused as the biggest alien launched its hammer-ax-grapple thing at Iron Maiden, only for her to _open a portal without a fucking sling ring_ to catch it and then used it to suck the rhino dude into it. He had heard the haunting howls and screams. He rather doubted the alien will live long in that dimension after the portal closes. "You know, just ten minutes ago, I think I would have told you to send literally _anyone_ to help. Now, I'm not so sure if they'd be of help or get in the way."

::What are you talking about, Strange? Battlefield reports are _not_ supposed to be vague, mystic bullshit!:: Stephen actually snorted. There was a time he would have snapped at the Ancient One like that for much the same frustrating reasons.

"Help has already arrived, Director. I don't think we need any more."

There was a pause on the other side, allowing Stephen to watch as Iron Maiden finally descended on the alien woman, using a Heart of Iron blue version of the Ancient One's favored magical fan weapons to deflect attacks from the much larger female and then attacking her with a blast from the Heart itself. The doctor turned sorcerer couldn't help but wonder how Stark knew how to use the Heart or even how she was utilizing its powers. She couldn't have had the Heart for more than a year and yet in that one year, she appears to have managed something that the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj haven't been able to in the centuries they'd had access to it.

::I take it Stark has arrived?:: Fury's half inquiry distracts Stephen from his thoughts and the view of said woman finishing off the alien woman and going back to the Chitauri and Outrider soldiers that were now attacking her once again. Stephen felt dread when one of the flying space wales started closing in on them.

"Yes, although, on second thought, we might need some additional assistance after all."

Stark looked up from where she was battling the _much_ smaller aliens as Fury chuckled in his ear. ::Doctor Strange, if I were to tell you just how wrong you are, you wouldn't believe me.:: Iron Maiden fired off a serious of those small missiles and shot up in the air, heading straight for the gaping maws of the charging space wale. Stephen watched in disbelief as the red and gold armor flew right into the giant creature's mouth. ::That woman knows what she is doing. She's been preparing for this moment longer than even I've known her.:: He watched as explosions started going off from within the wale thing and couldn't help but admire the ingenuity and bravery of the endeavor. ::The things she's faced ... :: The armor burst out on the other side even as the giant wale started crashing down, thankfully over a wide boulevard and not on any buildings. There was already enough damage all over New York that they didn't need collapsed skyscrapers or, worse yet, hospitals. ::Those mother fuckers are going down.::

Judging by how quickly she cleared the skies of two others ... "I'm inclined to believe that." What he found suspicious, though, was the lack of action on Thanos part as his forces were reduced to a few stragglers. Stephen frowned when the Mad Titan didn't even bother to do anything about the _ridiculously_ powerful shield Stark placed in front of the portal to seal it shut after sending a huge fucking missile through that somehow deactivated all Chitauri soldiers after an explosion flashed from the other side in the same 'corking' manner Loki had been doing with ice, only this 'cork' tended to bite back. In fact, Thanos seemed almost ... _thrilled_ to see Stark decimate his armies, looking on in admiration as he soon became the only hostile alien lifeform in New York. He didn't try to fulfill his self appointed mission of 'snapping' half of the universe out of existence or doing as he had threatened and killing Stephen as he had wanted to seconds prior to Stark's arrival. He wasn't even _acknowledging_ to slowly recovering heroes sitting up and watching in something a lot like a mixture of fear and awe as Iron Maiden single-handedly did what none of them could, even with combined forces.

It all happened in the matter of maybe thirty five minutes before Stark once again landed in front of the sprawled Sorcerer Supreme and the rest of the Avengers, not a scratch on her armor, though she _was_ covered in some alien guts. Thanos _finally_ seemed ready to intervene, raising his Infinity Gauntlet covered hand, when the woman interrupted him, modulated voice a near growl.

"If you throw another moon at me, _again_ , you know I'm gonna lose it. _Again_." Silence reigned for a long, shocked moment, the words barely registering in any of their brains. Then ...

"Stark," Thanos greeted, sounding pleasantly surprised and dismayed at the same time. If anything, that just caused more confusion. It was safe to say _no one_ had seen _that_ coming.

"You know her?" Stephen couldn't help but ask, looking between the two warriors ready to face off in what was without a doubt going to be an epic battle to the end. The sorcerer wanted nothing more than to run over to Stark, take back the Heart and get the _fuck_ out of there, hoping for the best that the woman can take him on _without_ needing Toni's power.

The purple behemoth grinned a very unpleasant smile. "I do." His eyes were solely on Stark when he said: "I'm not the only one cursed with knowledge."

"My only curse remains you," was all the woman said in turn, not at all surprised by hearing an _alien warlord_ knew her by name. "Give me the Stones, Thanos."

"Hm, I don't think I will."

The sound of charging repulsors was one of the most famous ones on Earth. "Time to end this."

"I couldn't agree more."

The Infinity Stones flashed.

A bright, familiar electric blue light lit the area.

And the fight was on.


	11. Chapter 11

The world, the entire _fucking world_ , stood in shock as the Mad Titan fell to his knees. None of them could believe it. Fifteen minutes of science, technology and magic all fitted in one female human wearing armor of her own design ... That was all that was needed. That was all that was needed to down a Titan with all six Infinity Stones in his possession. That was all that was needed for victory.

Stark. Iron Maiden.

The woman who somehow got her hands on the Heart of Iron.

 _'No wonder Kamar-Taj guarded it so jealously,'_ was all any of the sorcerers could think. The power behind the Heart was immense. Stark had been able to counter Thanos every step of the way. It had been like a deadly dance between familiar partners who knew each other's every move, every _thought_ , before they could even make it. The fate of the universe depended on the victor and the victor was Stark, binding Thanos in chains and seals suited more for demons of Dormammu's caliber than any mortal being. The Gauntlet lay in pieces at her feet, the Stones floating around her like she was the Sun and they were her solar system. They even brushed against her occasionally, as though they couldn't help themselves.

The Heart of Iron was practically the seventh Infinity Stone, immune to their influence and powers, saving Stark from mind control or manipulations of reality. It had allowed her to form shields strong enough to hold up against the Power Stone's attacks of pure energy as well as counter with attacks that it can't absorb. She avoided wormholes opened in front of her and was able to counter black holes in much the same manner Stephen had in his fight against Thanos. And, perhaps most importantly, she had transferred them to the Mirror Dimension and held on despite Thanos attempting to pull them back into the real world. Rules changed, then. Thanos had no experience in the Mirror Dimension, couldn't make the difference between up and down let alone how Toni created an arena for them to fight on while pushing the Avengers away so they would be out of danger. That was when they had both unleashed their worst, attacks so powerful they would have flattened New York simply from the collision between them. They had struggled for the Stones, one moment one had them, the next the other one. Sometimes just one Stone, other times two or all of them and so on. Iron Maiden knew the Mirror Dimension well, it would seem, as she could manipulate it however she wanted, knew all the strengths and weaknesses of fighting on this battlefield.

The rest of them could only watch as one woman tore down Thanos of Titan with a scary efficiency.

Thanos, in the end, stood no chance and Iron Maiden was the last one remaining standing. Bound and restrained, defeated, Thanos no longer looked as untouchable or powerful as he had seemed. The air if intimidation and strength was gone. His big wormhole was gone. His army was gone. His best fighters were gone. The Gauntlet was no longer in his possession, smashed to itty bitty tiny pieces. The enemy he had seemed ecstatic to see stood over him with the Infinity Stones dancing around her in what seemed like celebration.

It was the ultimate victory and yet the purple behemoth didn't _look_ like he had been defeated. Not in his demeanor. He looked like someone who's about to say something along the lines of a lost battle but not the war. It reasonably put everyone on edge.

"Come now, Stark. Why are you stalling? Finish it. The sooner you do, the sooner we can start our game all over again." The Avengers exchanged looks, their gazes ultimately falling on the unflappable Iron Maiden. There was no response, Thanos only grinned. "Come on! There's nothing to hesitate about. You don't _have_ anything here, Stark. I made sure of that when I erased your existence before you were even born. I'll admit it's rather impressive how you've still managed to build yourself an armor - or is it an artificial body? - despite not existing, but what more is there for you here? No name, no family, no friends, no teammates, no home, no finances ... You don't even have a real _body_. What will you do? When all of this is over, what will you do? You'll wait for the next one, just as we've both done countless times. Nothing waits for you, Stark. Only the Stones and I do. You won't get a better opportunity to wipe _me_ from existence than this. And you can bet on the Stones that, next time, I'll find a way to erase your essence _completely_."

"What is he talking about?" Barton could be heard asking somewhere in the background but everyone was more focused on the Mad Titan and Iron Maiden. They were all holding their breath, waiting to see what will happen. Stephen thought he might be sick. He didn't really _understand_ what Thanos was talking about, but something about all of this was _familiar_ and his heart _ached_.

"So come on, Stark! Take your best shot!" Thanos somehow even managed to look properly challenging despite still being held down by magical, unbreakable chains.

"I'll just kill him," Thor muttered and took a step forward when Stark didn't immediately reply, getting grunts of agreement but a single word stopped him in his tracks.

"No."

"No?" The god of thunder repeated incredulously at the red and gold armored woman. The Infinity Stones had stopped circulating, concentrating in Stark's hand, where they continued to lazily drift around each other, occasionally poking the back of her hand as though they wanted to nestle themselves into her red repulsor gauntlet like they had been on the golden one Thanos had brought them in.

"No," Stark repeated, her gaze - probably; it was hard to tell with the Iron Maiden faceplate in place - never leaving Thanos, voice firm and strong. "I won't. Because I've finally figured out a way to end this game, Thanos. The endgame is over. This is my checkmate."

"What?" The Titan now looked disturbed, eyes wide and scared, voice disbelieving. "There is no way to stop this! I am inevitable!"

"And I am Iron Maiden," she replied, her helmet retracting like flowing water. "And more importantly, I am Toni Stark."

00000

_When she first became aware of her surroundings, she found it was nothing new. This was nowhere near the first time she drifted amongst this abyss of darkness and nothingness. She remembers speaking about it with a friend once - it's been too long to remember when and who that friend was, at this point - and they had told her that the Ancient Egyptians called something a lot similar to what she was describing Ombos. She's been thinking of it as such ever since._

_So she found herself floating in Ombos, waiting for the cycle to begin once again. If she was waking up, then it is now only a matter of time before it all began. Her rest was always temporary at best. It had been ever since_ that day _, so, so long ago. Does there even exist a time measure that can tell her just how long ago it was? Not even the Asgardians would have one, not for that length of time. Still, she could ask them. She always learns new things in each cycle. It changes her and allows her certain victories over her adversary, who for reasons unknown mostly uses the exact same tactics and strategies as the first time they had fought. She knows he remembers each cycle as clearly as she does. It's rather lonely for there only to be one other entity to share such knowledge with and for that entity to be your sworn nemesis._

_But some things don't change. She at her core never will, no matter the amount of time or cycles she lives through, and she knows it's the same for him. He has his goals and she has hers, most of which center around making sure he doesn't fulfill his. It was a hard existence but she has gotten used to it by now._

_This wasn't the first time she drifted in Ombos, waiting for the moment it will all be set in motion once more. However, it_ was _the first time there was so much light around her. Suspicious and a little wary, she looked around and found more nothingness. She moved and the light stayed with her. That ... She wasn't sure if that was good or not. The light was coming from her. Nothing ... particularly unexpected, considering the beautiful electric blue color of the light. That was her color. It was part of her very being, her very_ soul _, her life essence. No, there was nothing weird about the light except it_ shouldn't exist yet _. Nothing should. He and she should be waking up now, waiting for yet another round of their endless game to begin, before the universe starts ticking its own time away. They were so, so far away from the moment_ they _as_ themselves _began, but over time, they had learned to play the game even before they were_ them _. Now, in this instance of existence, nothing but them should exist, not even the energies that will explode and create the universe that is their chess board._

 _And yet there was this_ light _._

 _She looked down, finding she already had ghostly, glowing limbs and torso, the very essence of her given form into a familiar shape. It would seem she will be a she again. This would be the twelfth time in a row, now. Usually, the gender is rather random. She'd been both a he and a she, she had even been both at the same time! It had been hard at first to accept that she wasn't the same as she had been the first cycle ... Or at least the first cycle she remembers, when this whole mess started, on that day, so,_ so _long ago. She can't even remember what her first - remembered - gender was, that's how much time and cycles had passed. At first, like the first five cycles she wasn't her original gender - especially if she was in one of the cycles in between - she'd denied it with a fierceness she usually reserved for battle. When she realized there was no changing this, that the cycle will repeat itself over and over again until the multiverse is satisfied - and will do so even when that occurs, for it is the multiverse and it is never ending; she hopes she'll at least be able to start anew with no recollections of her previous cycles - and that her role will change despite staying the same - she hates that paradox - she simply stopped caring. Which is, actually, probably why she forgot her original gender in the first place but who cares at this point. Certainly not her._

 _So she established she was once again a she. Being a she was really fun. All those males, ready to do her bidding if she just bats her eyelashes at them and sways her hips ... It was far too easy to manipulate the 'stronger sex'. Sex was also really fun as a she, too, though she knows now sex is always fun, as long as you're with someone you share a mutual respect with and especially if it is with someone you care about. And, of course, if they're good in the sack. Though it's not as though they can't be_ taught _._

 _But she digresses. So she was female. Nothing strange there. Won't be the first and probably won't be the last time. That's not what worried her - she even had a nice set of boobs! And her ass was always a thing to admire. No, what made her so uneasy was that there was a very familiar object in her chest. And when she says an_ object _, she means a_ physical, solid object _, something that as a concept should exist beyond a certain six crystals only after billions of years!_ Matter _didn't yet exist and energy was still flowing freely as it desires. Solid objects should not exist, not when the elements that would make them up were still nothingness. And yet there it was, as real and as solid as it was ever going to get, shining that beautiful light into the Ombos and she knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that something was_ wrong _. This had never happened before. Not once in the ..._ numerous _cycles she'd lived through. She was lost as to what to think, what to do._

_She could do nothing._

_Not until some measure of time later, when the Big Bang exploded through the Ombos and the universe_ existed _, finally. Matter was forming all around her, the threads of destiny and fate stretching beyond her as the Infinity Stones scattered across the virgin universe. She had been witness to this moment countless times by now and was no longer phased by its buty or magnificence. Though she would usually still sit down and watch it for a moment, enjoy the purity and innocence of space and reality as they formed. Not now. Not when she couldn't find the usually_ blinding _string of destiny and fate that was_ her's _._

 _No, that wasn't exactly true or correct. She could find it, it was going right out of her pinky finger, like those cheesy strings of fate that represented romantic soulmates or something to that effect in sappy literature. What she_ couldn't _find was it's end, rather the place it_ should _be attached to. Her home planet, her parents, her friends to be. Yes, they didn't exist yet but that doesn't mean they_ won't _. She even found them and their strings with ease. But her own? It was ... It was severed, right in front of her, not four paces away from where it began. The cut end just fluttered in nonexistent wind and she ... She_ knew _._

_She was erased from existence. She will not be born at all. This universe will not have her._

_Her adversary had taken_ everything _._

 _He had_ won _before this round even began._

_The universe was at his mercy._

_She screamed. She screamed and yelled and raged at the universe for not letting her defend it. Without her around,_ he _will reign victorious. He will see his goals come to pass and nothing will ever be the same. The next cycle might not begin ever again and she will never be able to fix this. She had failed. She, who has learned so much, made mistakes and then amends, learned and memorized and remembered. She, who has fought and sacrificed and lost so much. She, whom so many had counted on and trusted in._

_She won't even exist. She will be forced to reside in this new universe as a ghost unable to help or protect anyone. How can she be the universe's best defender if she does not exist? How can she protect them if she can't get in between them and the threat? She has no power now._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_She_ has _power now. Perhaps more than ever before. Perhaps more than any being has before her, for she holds the knowledge of trillions of cycles within her mind. It is_ she _who will reign victorious. Her adversary had only made her more powerful, for he had removed all the restrictions that had been caging her in her own bodies, in her own heart and mind. She had the only thing she will need with her already._

 _She no longer had to fear the consequences her interference will have on her own life. Before, she had had to be careful about the changes she made, if any at all, for they could affect when and whether she will be born, when she will pick up the mantle of protector, when her heart will glow this fierce, beautiful, electric blue color. But she now knows she will not be born. She will wait and see how and why before she makes a move. Just because she won't be born_ doesn't _mean the world will lack her. Oh no. She carries with her enough knowledge that, should the day ever come, she will help herself come out of her own Cradle and she will run before she walks. She will_ fly _before she_ crawls _and_ he _will regret ever freeing her of her chains._

 _For the possibilities before her are now infinite, as infinite as the power she had wielded so many times in all these cycles. She has the whole of space and time and reality and_ life and death _before her and she is a creator. She tinkers. She_ makes _. She_ fixes _. And she will fix so, so many things. She can make so many changes that will leave the universe all for the better. She has an incredible mind. She is a genius and a futurist. She will calculate and make her moves carefully. She has so much_ time _to plan before the first atoms form and start building the universe. That amount of time might as well be infinite to someone like her. All the problems she'd faced before, she can now safely calculate the best ways to solve them, the best outcomes. The best data she can give and the stories she will tell. She now, for the first time since she got stuck in this repetition of cycles, has a moment to absorb all that she has learned and gather it to the forefront of her mind._

 _She needs data in order to deduce the best course of action. After that, it was all elementary. She had to make the impossible_ possible _. She had so many lives to save, so many tragedies to prevent and even more so she will have to let be, for she cannot change_ everything _in fear of preventing this world's version of her friends from achieving their own greatness._

_So she planned and she waited until finally, one day, her home planet was born and a green Infinity Stone started heading towards it._

_She followed._

_00000_

_The wait fir her race to be born and developed was a long one. Life took its time and evolution made no rush. She never tried to influence either. She sat beside the crashed emerald stone of immense power and waited for the first ever Master of the Mystic Arts to find them._

_She watched the evolution she had only ever read about, observed as primates divided, one to remain primates, others to evolve further until they are one day to become people like her. Homo sapiens sapiens. Though, to be fair, she needn't wait for Agamotto all_ that _long, as she had feared. Languages were developing, fire was a long time in use, music and dance were a part of every day life, nature was worshiped and clothes and tools and weapons were being made by the time a curious young man stumbled into the Time Stone's crash site, following a creature she recognized as being from another dimension, fascinating the man who will build Kamar-Taj._

_It didn't take long for the youth to notice the two glowing objects nearby, making him forget all about the creature he had been following and instead coming closer to investigate. She didn't show herself yet, letting Agamotto touch the Time Stone and seeing how the emerald Stone gifted him with the most basic of knowledge that the man will learn in his long life. He stumbled back, staring wide eyed as the Infinity Stone before, scared, looking to the other object. She felt now was the time and let herself appear out of the vessel of her very essence, glowing that beautiful, powerful and yet soothing electric-but-not-quite blue._

_"Hello, Agamotto," she greeted the frightened young sorcerer to be with a smile. "We have much to learn from each other."_

_"Who- Who_ are _you?" Asked the young man, curiosity winning over fear but not wariness._

_And she just smiled._


	12. Chapter 12

_The Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj were a much merrier bunch for centuries. She and Agamotto studied together for many years before anyone noticed Agamotto's new abilities. The multiverse didn't notice him until he started gathering a following of many who wished to learn. Earth was, as such, for a couple of centuries completely isolated from other dimensions beyond drawing on their energies. Then, slowly, residents from other dimensions started coming to Kamar-Taj and not all were benevolent. That is how Kamar-Taj's tradition of being protector's of this reality began._

_Centuries later, during the Late Iron Age, Agamotto created a vessel for the Time Stone named the Eye and labeled her vessel as the Heart of the Iron Maiden, which she found ironically fitting. She is not certain when or how the name later became the Heart of Iron but the Maiden part was forever lost not five generations of sorcerers after it became standard. Before the ancient Egyptian empire reached its peak in the Middle East or China developed some of the most peculiar aspects of its culture, Agamotto faced Dormammu and with his dying breath created a world wide shield to keep the demon trapped in the Dark Dimension._

_His successor was the only one who knew about her true nature. He erected the three Sanctums over the points Agamotto created the protective shields and started training the sorcerers to both heal and fight. Kamar-Taj began hiding, seeing that all sorts of people with either good or bad intentions came to learn magic. Kamar-Taj faded from common knowledge except for wise old men and women or those in desperate need. Everyone else assumed them to be a religious cult like Shaolin monks or something those people up in Tibet, on the other side of Mont Everest. War always avoided Kamar-Taj. Emperors and conquerors left them alone unless magical aid was needed. Agamotto's successor was the first 'official' Sorcerer Supreme, meaning the title was known at royal courts and respected like visiting royalty. Agamotto became practically a god. It reminded her of that old paradox and often made her snort as she advised or studied with the Sorcerer Supreme: Did God make man or did man make God? A question that may as well outweigh even the seemingly silly which came first, the chicken or the egg? Those questions somehow led to Kamar-Taj teaching its sorcerers philosophy and she had great fun cackling at the younger students with no patience for such riddles grumble about the problem as they tried to figure out an answer. Even the Sorcerer Supreme asked her, but not even_ she _knew, not that she was going to tell him as much._

_Centuries passed and so did he. She remained the same and greeted the new Sorcerer Supreme with as much enthusiasm as she had the first two. The young Greek woman was more powerful than her teacher but not as powerful as Agamotto. Her 'reign' as Sorcerer Supreme was short, though, when Romans started invading her village and she had been visiting her family. They killed her and she had not left a successor in her place. A young Persian boy took her place, barely reaching adulthood, but his mandate was even shorter as he tried taking the Time Stone out of the Eye of Agamotto in an attempt to reverse the former Sorcerer Supreme's death. The next Sorcerer Supreme, coming from somewhere in Nigeria, did not make that same mistake. He banned anyone from using the Eye of Agamotto until they master other forms of magic. He died after a long, natural life, leaving Cagliostro as his successor, the man who wrote a book on the manipulation of time. Cagliostro remained Sorcerer Supreme until, during the 9th century AD, he found his destined successor, Myrddin or, as most of the world came to know him, Merlin. He rivaled Agamotto in power and far outweighed him in wisdom._

_It was during his reign that someone first tried to steal and use the Heart of Iron and the sorcerers learned the folly of such attempts. She was not amused and the protection spells she herself had placed on her vessel were merciless. She had no regrets. Her vessel was only for her to use. Still, she had Merlin spread rumors that only a chosen sorcerer will be able to wield the power of the Heart and let human imagination do its work for her. Merlin took great care to never let her fall into the wrong hands again, or that no one can attempt it._

_She was possibly the only one who knew of his conflict between loving Freya, the Lady of the Lake, and King Arthur Pendragon of Kamelot, the uniter of Albion. Both their deaths were a near devastating blow to the sorcerer but he recovered as best as he could and continued his duties. It is when all the relics Kamar-Taj would later protect were hunted down. More came over the centuries, but in a single decade, most of the space in the three Sanctums and Kamar-Taj itself was filled up with all sorts of relics and magic books or scrolls and tablets._

_Around the time Columbus found the Americas, a young Celtic woman appeared at the doors of Kamar-Taj and she knew the time was approaching. She let Merlin train her as he saw fit, especially as the future Sorcerer Supreme showed unease around her. Instead, she finally devoted some of her time to other pursuits._

_Namely, Asgard._

_She had visited Odin once before, warning him of how he treated his daughter, Hela. She had told him she needed help to adjust to peace after centuries of conquering wars that led to Asgard's riches and control over the Nine Realms. She hadn't checked in on them since Thor was born and she wasn't entirely sure when Loki will be adopted but he had to talk to Odin about his treatment of the young Frost Giant and the secret keeping. If Loki finds out and snaps, certain things will be set in motion. Not that she can't_ stop _them, but she'd rather not deal with them at all. Sure, it might mean the Mind Stone will be left in her nemesis' possession but that over the possibility of_ him _getting his hands on the Space Stone is an almost acceptable loss. Besides,_ he _only learns of the Space Stone's location because a Prince of Asgard tells him. She would bet her right arm that he wouldn't be any wiser to its whereabouts for years to come if he had not been told in Loki's attempt to spare his own life and sanity._

 _As she half expected, Odin was as hardheaded as ever. He would not budge on revealing to Loki his true heritage and would instead rather keep him in the dark. Frigga and Hela were disgusted by him in that regard but at least Loki had_ someone _in his corner until Thor hauls his head out of his ass and stops being so arrogant. She wonders if she is being a hypocrite. She remembers very well just how arrogant she at one point used to be, even if it was only a mask to hide her numerous vulnerabilities._

 _She and Hela are decent friends. Thor does not know her or_ of _her, per her own request, much the same as Loki. Her path with them will intertwine when the time is right. For now, Hela is the only child of Odin she speaks with and she prepares the seasoned army general for the trouble to come. Hela is reasonable and listens to her, as does Frigga. For all that Odin is considered the strongest in their family, it is the two of them and later Loki who are mages to be feared. Hela teaches her Asgardian battle magic and introduces her to Fenrir, her gigantic wolf. Frigga, on the other hand, teaches her magic the likes of which Earth has never seen before. For all that she had once been the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, it was in the first hundred cycles that she has any memory of and it is all fuzzy. Magic comes to her with ease for this very reason, no matter how bad her recollection is. She studies for two Earth years in Asgard before returning to Earth to share her knowledge with the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj. Merlin learns it with ease, as does his successor. Years later, Asgard even sends them books of spells and beasts and worlds to look out for. Kamar-Taj grows, even as it is forgotten in the minds of men._

 _In Asgard, only the King, Queen and army general know of their existence, know of_ her _and know of_ him _, her adversary. She works for centuries later to secure Earth's protectors so Earth itself can be secure._

_It is sometimes an exercise in futility, other times she manages to make progress._

_Odin remains a dick._

_Merlin passes down the mantel of Sorcerer Supreme to his greatest student in the late years of the 16th century, finding a nice part of an enchanted forest to turn himself into a tree and await the return of his Once and Future King that was prophesied to happen when Albion needs him the most. She had never actually bothered to check in previous cycles if that prophecy ever came true but she figured she might as well keep an eye on her old friend this time around. His student, the now bald Celtic woman, has exceeded him in power and after only a century earns herself the moniker 'the Ancient One'. She has a good heart and a set of morals that were, despite their seeming rigidness, rather elastic. She follows the rules but understands when they must be bent or outright broken in order to protect the people of Earth and the multiverse itself. She makes a list of entities, beings and people that must be watched for they could or already are a threat. She starts teaching people how to heal themselves of even the most helpless cases. She is firm and kind and cruel and merciful. She is wise but grows cryptic and she has managed to mostly suppress her pride._

_But only mostly. She, too, is human, after all. She hesitates for the longest time to seek the Heart of Iron's council until she realizes the wait only does harm in the end. They build a working relationship and a rapport not many would understand how it works. They never become friends, like she had with most of the Sorcerers Supreme before the Ancient One, but the two women get along splendidly most of the time._

_The Ancient One comes crying for her forgiveness, one day, when an army of the Mindless Ones somehow manages to come to their dimension from the Dark Dimension. There had been too many and their presence disrupted the natural flow of magic, disabling the sorcerers, even the Sorcerer Supreme, from drawing on the energies of the multiverse in order to fight. The Ancient One kept crying to her how there was no other way and the mark of Dormammu glowed a fierce red on her forehead, a stigmata of her shame. The Celtic woman begged the oldest adviser of her order for forgiveness for allowing herself to strike a deal with Dormammu to draw power from the Dark Dimension. The bald woman was so shaken up that she fell asleep in the chambers containing her vessel as she stroke her head to keep her calm and wrangle the new power under control._

_The Ancient One put up a wall between them ever since, out of shame and fear of the temptation the Heart of Iron now represented. The entity within said relic never needed to remind her how the last person who tried to abuse her power had ended up. Still, the Ancient One learned to be far more reserved around her elder, which greatly annoyed her as they had been finally getting somewhere._

_The Ancient One was a good Sorcerer Supreme. She cared, she defended, she fought, she learned and taught, she made mistakes and did her best to then make amends. Her guilt still ate away at her, so one day she took the Celtic woman to the Eye of Agamotto and told her many of her predecessors have used it to look in the future so they can prevent the worst ones, so the breach of the veil between dimensions can never happen again. The Ancient One refused at first, wary of disrupting the natural balance or going against its laws, but she persisted and the Sorcerer Supreme started learning. As the years passed, she used it more and more as trouble started appearing at every corner, magic being abused or hunted all over the world. Kamar-Taj was for a long while the only place where magic can be practiced freely, as even the Sanctums were now in the hearts of bustling city life. The Ancient One had them keep up with the times to not stand out, as the seals must remain strong. A few times, they nearly fell due to human stupidity. They_ would _have, had it not been for the Masters guarding them and the protective shields soon erected to keep them safe from physical attack._

 _The first World War came around soon enough, much to the sorcerers' distaste as a whole. Their movements were restricted to the Mirror Dimension if they had to go out about their business and duties. The Ancient One forbid anyone from participating in the battles as they were not their's to fight. She had to agree with her there. Sorcerers on a battlefield on_ either _side were a big bit not good._

 _That was when the schism between the duty of protecting the physical world and the metaphysical one occurred. The Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj were the protectors of reality as a whole, rather than any singular country's own interests. They started practically existing_ outside _of the world with an isolation to almost rival that of Wakanda. The only difference was that Wakanda still sent spies and influencers into the 'white man's world', whereas Kamar-Taj contended themselves with getting information through scrying. Still, Wakanda remained as closed to the world as ever while Kamar-Taj still gladly accepted anyone who would want to learn the Mystic Arts. They, too, brought cultural differences and stories of the war. Many of them were amputated soldiers, who had heard of the mystic place and had been hoping fir a miracle. They got it, though not how they expected it. They had to be practically rehabilitated in order to be calm enough to do magic. The Ancient One refused anyone who had plans of taking the knowledge of Kamar-Taj back to the armies and the wars._

_Soon, WWI passed, there was a truce that lasted about twenty years before WWII started. It was then that the ancient presence within the Heart ventured out to, for the first time, observe the world of men. After all, her parents will be there. It is time she figures out why she won't exist. Besides, this is when her sometimes friend, sometimes enemy, most of the time teammate, occasionally partner, often times rival and rarely lover will come into his own as the first scientifically enhanced human and become a war hero. It never hurts to check on someone's start of their greatest journey._

_Finding her father is easy and following him after that even easier. As the war ends, it eventually leads to her watching as her parents meet, fall in love and eventually marry. A child is not even in the back of their minds as they live their lives and enjoy their fame. It doesn't worry her. She knows she is supposed to be born later. Or adopted, as it sometimes happens. The family relations of each cycle is as weird and as random as gender is. She never knows how life will go for her this time around, but she is still somehow always the same person, has the same name, the same identity, always the same memories. She has some constants in these cycles. Other times, she meets completely new people she never sees again. Those who shaped her always remain. The date of her birth varies, the date of her_ rebirth _also varies. She's taken up her mantle of protector, defender and warrior at the most random points in her life. As an old man, as a young teenage girl, a middle aged man, in her early twenties, as a high school boy genius, as a kid in middle school and so on and so fort._

 _Still, she knows when to expect the best opportunity for these events. She always knows when she will be born. Which is why it had been so shocking and_ disturbing _to find that no such dates existed in this universe. And now she was following her parents to find out why._

_The answer comes soon enough. 16th of September 1970, her heavily pregnant mother and panicking father get into a car as they realize the contractions have started two weeks early, on the day they were transporting her father's version of the supersoldier serum to a secure safe. She watches with a heavy 'heart' as they travel down the road and, suddenly, the car swerves out of control and crashes off the road. Moments later, a far too familiar man appears, mask covering half of his face and metal arm gleaming as he rips open her father's door, drags him out and starts punching his face in until his pleas for his wife's and unborn daughter's lives go quiet. Her entire being turns colder than a black hole as the man then takes her mother by the throat and squeezes the life out of her._

_And then, in a final, chilling moment of unnecessary cruelty, the assassin takes his knife and cuts open her mother, dragging out the dying baby that was supposed to be her. The man stares down at her and throws her dead should-be-body into the ditch on the side of the road before taking the serum and mounting his motorbike, speeding off without a trail._

_Hours later, far too late to help either of the three broken little family, authorities pass by and the horrific scene alerts the organization she both loves and hates. An even more familiar man, one whom she has both hate and respect for, accompanies the woman who has almost always been her godmother and he is the one to find her frozen little body. He, her honorary uncle, the man she had never seen shed a tear, clutches her close to his chest as though to keep her warm and weeps. He holds her long after her parents' bodies were checked over, identities confirmed - not that it was needed; even with his whole face bloody and ruined, her father is still far too recognizable - and he fights when they take her away._

_She wonders at the wisdom of going to him as she had planned and ponders letting it fade, letting the hurt settle, maybe a few years, maybe until the day this tragedy should have happened, but ultimately decides this can't wait. The fate of the world rests on how she treats these events. If she has been able to get over the fact that_ she won't exist _in this world, than so can the world._

 _She follows him to his apartment building and quickly goes to the apartment itself as soon as she learns which one is it, waiting there, in the dark, letting her glow be the only source of life. She's never seen him so down that he is completely clueless to another's presence as he bangs open the door, goes straight for his stash of liquor and takes a deep, long drink of whiskey. When he lowers the bottle, only then does he notice her and she is not at all surprised as a gun is whipped in her direction faster than in those cliche cowboy movies. The bullet goes straight through her, as do the rest of the ones left in his gun. Not one to be deterred, he rushes forward with the full intention to try and punch her - which makes_ no sense _, given she had been intangible to bullets just a second ago, but she's willing to blame it on the emotional joyride he must be going through right now - but she doesn't want him to crash through the window and fall to his death, so she catches his punch and catches him off guard._

_"Stop that," she commands and pushes gently back and he staggers as though she had used more force than necessary, which she hadn't. She'd had her cycles of being enhanced. After a certain number, she always made sure she was enhanced. It bettered her chances, in the end. Either way, she had learned control a long time ago. It was just shock that was making him so pliant and unbalanced._

_"Who ... ?_ What _are you?!" Asked the shocked man, looking shaky and increasingly uncomfortable, which was fair. He_ was _technically seeing, well, a_ ghost _of a woman who should have been born today. Not that he knew that. Not yet._

_"My name is Toni Stark," she told him, with the same pride and flair found only in a true Stark. "We need to talk."_


	13. Chapter 13

_"I don't know no 'Toni Stark'. There_ is _no_ Toni Stark _," the man spat with disgust, probably at what he thought to be a cruel joke. He'll_ wish _it were a cruel joke by the time Toni was done with him. "I should know. The last Stark just died."_

 _"Starks," she corrected, getting a double-take from the man. "The last_ Starks _just died. Father and daughter. Daughter they would have named Antonia or Antoinette or something to that sense and would have then called Toni for short. The mother was an Italian woman by the name of Maria Collins Carbonell and the father was Howard Anthony Stark. The only_ other _Stark in existence in the recent past was Howard's brother, my uncle Edward, who died two years back of alcohol poisoning. The Starks were murdered by the HYDRA assassin, code name Winter Soldier, real identity James Buchanan Barns of the Howling Commandos from WWII. As you no doubt know by now, seeing as SHIELD has the CCTV footage that filmed the road. You're going to write it off as an accident due to high levels of alcohol in Howard's blood and blame the stress from the labor making him a careless driver. The true autopsy will stay in SHIELD. No one will know what the assassin did to Maria."_

_"How do you know all of this?" Her companion asked, intimidated and Toni wasn't even trying._

_"Because I've seen it before," she replied, giving him a hauntingly sad smile. "My full name is Antonia Edith Stark - or at least it has been for the last twelve universal cycles - and I am Howard's and Maria's only daughter. Though tonight is the first time I've witnessed my own murder. At least the way I did. I've been murdered before, in many different, colorful, gruesome ways."_

_The man was silent for a long while, staring at her with dark, suspicious eyes. "Are you suggesting you're the ... child? How is that even supposed to work? Why are you solid one second and intangible the next? Why are you here? Why are you addressing me and not Director Carter, if you're_ really _Stark's ... kid? And what do you mean by 'universal cycles' and 'been murdered before'?"_

 _"You have a lot of questions, Nick," she hummed, watching in amusement as he went stiff as a board all over again when he realized she knew his name. "And to most of them I only have an answer that would frustrate any Stark and I've had to live with it for_ countless _millennia." She made sarcastic, fake-enthusiastic jazz hands with a slightly disgusted curl to her lips that she couldn't suppress no matter how many times and in how many ways it was involved in her ... existence. "Magic."_

 _Nick just stared at her for a long moment before snorting and shaking his head, looking mournfully at his bottle of too little whiskey. "Yeah, you're a Stark alright. Howard had pretty much the same reaction every time that seemed to be the only explanation for the Tesseract or other such crazy bullshit we pull out of our asses every year." He looked at her in a studying manner before sighing tiredly and sinking into his shaggy couch. "Alright, Stark. Start talking. I'm an intelligence agent, working for a secret intelligence agency. I need data. And did you say_ HYDRA _earlier on?"_

 _"Oh, Nick," Toni said as she casually started floating in midair in a meditating position and enjoyed his flinch at the little show. "You have_ no _idea the amount of data I am about to dump on your head."_

_Agent Nicholas Fury looked like he had a headache from the mere idea of it._

_00000_

_"So you're telling me," Fury asked, words just a bit slurred, sometime close to sunrise that same night after a_ lot _of talking in Toni's part. Most of his alcohol was gone and he looked about two seconds away from falling asleep, but he soldiered on valiantly. Stark wondered when he'll lose the battle. He needed the rest if he plans on helping her prepare the world for the shit storm to come. "That you're some ... eons old entity that had started off as a baseline human - why the fuck do you even_ have _a term like that, anyway? - but ended up being reincarnated with your memories over and over again every time the universe ... Big Bangs?"_

_She had to hold in an inappropriate giggle at that. "Yep."_

_"And this whole shit started because you fought a giant, wrinkly, purple, grape nut ack-chin alien from a dead race that wanted to kill half of the universe but then changed his mind and attempted to kill_ all _of the life in the universe?"_

_"Aha."_

_"And he wanted to do that by using some six glowing jewels of destiny that have_ infinite fucking power _and control actual aspects of our existence?"_

_"That's right." Shitfaced Nick Fury was more entertaining than she could have ever imagined. And she had known the man for trillions of lifetimes._

_"By putting them in his super special awesome gold glove?"_

_"Mhm."_

_"Made by a giant midget that lives in a shinning magical forge that uses a dying star to make their god metal named Uru?"_

_"Yes."_

_"And all he has to do is snap his fingers to erase half of the life in the universe?"_

_Toni just demonstrates by snapping her own fingers. "Poof."_

_"And everyone just turns to dust?"_

_"Unfortunately."_

_"And he manages to succeed in doing this almost half of the time before it's reversed." That one isn't a question so much as it's a statement._

_Still, Toni nods anyway._

_"And the only one who can stop him is you?"_

_"The one and only."_

_"As you've been doing for ... How many cycles did you say it was?"_

_Toni thought about it before shrugging as she realized she couldn't count them. "I used to keep a mental log, but I gave up sometime after fourteen million." Fourteen million six hundred and five, to be exact, but her companion didn't need to know that. That was her special number to never forget._

_"And now, after all this time, he thinks he can win by getting rid of you so there is no one who can stop him so he just ... What? Erased you from existence before you were even born?"_

_"That's pretty much it."_

_Fury was silent for a long moment, just staring up at the ceiling in seemingly deep thought and the woman waited, wondering what he was thinking about. Thankfully, the man didn't leave her waiting for long. "Now that's just bullshit."_

_That startled the first free laugh out of her since Toni found out she won't ever be born._

_Maybe the future isn't so bleak._

_00000_

_"I know you're not telling me everything, Antonia," Fury said one day, about three months into their new arrangement of Toni popping up at his place twice a week so they can plan and prepare. Toni had been absent for the past week entirely, given that someone had tried to steal her vessel_ again _and the Ancient One had spent the week consulting her on the protection and sealing spells, runes, barriers and shields to place on a vault so no one can ever get to it again. Not without the Ancient One herself taking them inside. Toni only returned now, looking more impassive than she had ever been around her new companion so far and it was clear it was disturbing him. "If you want me to help, I need to know what sort of shit to expect."_

 _"You know I can't tell you. Not if I want it to happen how it should happen and not if I'm risking things going all screwy." Not to mention that telling Fury_ everything _would not only be impossible but also extremely dangerous for many parties involved, namely Kamar-Taj and its sorcerers. They thrived on secrecy but would be completely desolated by being brought into the world. For one, HYDRA is not the only organisation that would want to use them for their own gain. For another, they had their own enemies to deal with besides the entire world prosecuting them for their secrecy and for jealously keeping all of their incredible abilities to themselves. Fury might mean well, but he's still not the paranoid pirate she's used to. He'll let something slip and the wrong people will know what to look out for._

 _Besides, she hadn't come to Fury to deal with_ everything _on her plate. She was delegating things to many different people/institutions/organizations/nations/planets so that the best outcome can happen. She was buying time. She_ needed _time if she wants to properly prepare for her enemy._

_Nick sighed, frustrated. "And I understand that but you'll have to give me something more than you've been giving me so far."_

_"I'm giving you partial information and where to find more to follow up on that so you can find concrete evidence to present all those who we will need to convince to our side and our cause," Toni patiently explains, watching the world outside Fury's window, mind running through tons of information a million miles a second with distant eyes. "Imagine what would happen if I told you everything. You'd go to your superiors and give them the information without any real proof and they'll refute your claims. You'd be put under suspicion and would be watched nonstop. We could never have meetings like this again and I would not have the assistance I need to purge SHIELD."_

_"How are you even planning on doing that?"_

_"You mean, how are_ we _planning on doing that," she corrected, sending a small smile at her should be honorary uncle. Maybe he could be again, one day. Though she is pretty much beyond such things now. She can't really connect to people like that after how long she has 'lived' by now. Not like that. "It's simple."_

_"Oh yeah?"_

_Toni nodded, grinning in a way she knew put people on edge. "First, we need more information. Second, Toni Stark must be returned to the world. That gives us a good twenty years. I need to take my company back from Stane."_

_"And how are you planning on doing_ that _?" The incredulous man asks, giving her an even more incredulous look. "You're kind of a cosmic ghost, now. No offense."_

_"I'm Toni Stark. I have my ways. You leave that to me and focus on getting the information we need." She looked away, a sharp smirk on her lips. "This isn't my first rodeo."_

_She didn't need to look behind her to know Nick was shaking his head._

_00000_

_"Ah," Toni stopped the words that were on the tip of her tongue when she saw the scratched eye and the orange cat-like creature accompany Agent Nick Fury when he stepped back into his apartment. "Let me guess. You met Carol Danvers, or rather Captain Marvel and got dragged into the Kree-Skrull war. Hey Goose."_

_The Flerkin just mewed back its greeting to her, to which Fury arched his good eyebrow. "Let_ me _guess. You reached out to her, too."_

_"Nope. Talked with Mar-Vell. Good woman. She didn't deserve what happened to her. Yon-Rogg is a dick."_

_"The_ Kree _are dicks."_

_"Amen to that," the woman who was never born in this world replied, nodding. "You good?" She tried not to stare at the scratched eye. She knew, over time, that the microorganisms that live on Felkrin's will cause an infection that will lead to Fury loosing all sight in his eye. Which eye also tends to vary from cycle to cycle. This time it's the left eye. Mar-Vell's gender and role in Carol's life also varies. Sometimes, it's a man and her lover. Other times, it's a marvelous woman scientist. Mar-Vell can both be a Kree soldier and a Skrull invader. The morals of Kree and Skrull are also ambivalent. Judging from Goose's presence, it was the scientist and revolutionary Mar-Vell, a brave, merciful, peace loving woman who had grown disgusted with how her race treated others and decided to help the enemy the Kree were trying to eradicate from the universe. This shit can be so confusing sometimes. Thankfully, it's not that hard to figure out who are their allies this time around._

_"Yeah, I'll be fine," Nick waved her off, unconcerned. "How you doing with the board? You managed to get the last shares from Stane? Got enough proof of him dealing under the table with terrorists?"_

_Toni wasn't sure if she wanted to strangle her almost godfather or congratulate him on how good at politics and business he was. Obadiah always_ had _been a master manipulator. Only Toni wasn't falling for it this time around. "The board is mostly on my side now, given the dollar signs I've been seeing in their eyes for the last couple of months at board of directors meetings. Appearently, they're only just now figuring out how well everyday and clean energy technology sells compared to weapons. Still, Stane has rights to 20% of the stocks since he was Howard's long time business partner. I'm still trying to wrangle that bull back into the barn and I have a bad feeling I won't manage it by the end of this year. Not when I only turned twenty one last month."_

_The thing with Carol had happened later than Toni had anticipated, which was actually good. It meant she was managing to buy herself time. The shadier sides of SHIELD were slipping up over the years as Toni played her cards right. Margaret 'Peggy' Carter was still Director of SHIELD, but that won't stay true for long. By the time Toni goes out to the world with a bang, Carter probably won't even remember her oldest friend is dead or that he was supposed to become a father the night it happened. Good thing she and Fury almost had all the necessary information to purge SHIELD way before a certain spy, supersoldier and birdbrained former air force pilot get the chance to dump all of SHIELD's data on the Internet for the world to see and have the perfect opportunity to cost thousands of people their lives. They should have HYDRA backed into a corner by next spring. That should help her deal with her Stark Industries and Stane problem._

_Toni had waited for eighteen years until she came back into the world by opening a startup business called Stark Unlimited. It, of course, immediately drew attention to her and her genius as her products were beyond anything anyone has ever seen before. That was true in every cycle. She didn't even have to dish out her best to_ be _the best on the market. Stark International's stocks dropped by 5% when she came out and, of course, Obadiah immediately scheduled a meeting with her, partially to try and integrate her into the company under_ his _thumb and partially to see if she had_ any _connection to Howard. If she turned out to be his child ... Well, there went his CEO and major stock holder privileges._

_Of course, Toni was expecting that and smarter than him. Just as he was calling her to schedule a meeting, her interview with one ambitious, young Christine Everheart was released in the morning papers and it was the top news on every news station in America and, by noon, the entire world._

_**STARK HEIR MIRACULOUSLY SURVIVED AND SAVED FROM CERTAIN DEATH!?** _

_**STARK LEGACY CONTINUES: THE GENIUS GENE** _

_**THE STARK ACCIDENT - WAS IT A HIT AND RUN?** _

_**HERO LOYAL BUTLER SAVES YOUNG STARK! HIDDEN AND SAFE, STARK PREPARES TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE WORLD!** _

_**THE DAVINCI OF OUR TIME - TONI STARK** _

_And so on and so forth. Everything Stane did was put into question as he had been the only one to profit from Howard's death. Edwin Jarvis, the Stark family butler, had disappeared sometime after the accident - Toni had begged Fury to find him and hide him with reassurance that at least_ one _Stark had survived and that it's best for her own safety that no one knows about it until she grows up to be able to look after herself - and was speculated to have been with Mr and Mrs Stark to help keep the Madam calm during the labor. The story was looking more and more likely that Maria had survived the crash just long enough for her to beg the man to save her child and that Jarvis had ran away with the baby due to fear of an assassination attempt. It grew even more the winning theory when Toni instructed Fury through leaking sensitive information about Howard being in possession of some precious cargo on the same night. Now, people speculated assassination and the nation welcomed back the new Stark like a long lost hero finally returning home._

 _Of course, Stane demanded a DNA test, saying he wanted to make sure she was not a gold digger seeking to prey on his grief just to get rich. The public was divided about that given that Toni had already made a name and quite a small fortune for herself. Nothing nearly as much as the Stark wealth she will inherit if she proves to be who she claims, but good enough that she wouldn't have to work another day in her life if she so chose. Stane probably thought she'd deny a test or that he'd be able to manipulate results. That was_ not _gonna happen. All she needed was the blood from her dead baby body that she had fetched eighteen years prior and then, with magic and science both, she aged the blood to the right hormonal and genetic structure of an adolescent. With help of illusion and magic, she was able to trick everybody into being solid to the touch and that she had the doctor draw blood right in front of them._

_Then, she had JARVIS placed to watch over the tests lest anyone make an unsavory attempts at faol play. She wouldn't put it past Obadiah._

_Having her vessel from the start meant she had JARVIS from the start, too. After the first few cycles, when she realized she could save JARVIS from his unfortunate fate, she never made another AI meant to replace him. FRIDAY still existed, as did her other AIs, just not in the same capacity as before. Instead, she'd left her with Pepper. Just like EDITH was with Rhodey and she had given JOCASTA to Happy. KAREN was still offline and waiting for her time to fulfill her duty._

_As you can imagine, Toni had pretty much butchered her former life story into something that still allowed her to keep her friends while ensuring no threat comes to the world. Virginia Potts, Harold Hogan and Colonel James Rhodes were the only people outside of the Ancient One and Agent Nicholas Fury who knew about the truth behind her existence and not even_ they _had the full story between them, let alone on their own. Rhodey, Pepper and Happy were surprisingly chill after the stories Toni told them and, over the years, they've managed to build the same rapport as they had in all those cycles when she actually had a_ life _to do it properly. They were there, by her side, every step of the way as she proved herself to be who she is and started unraveling Stane's web as well as HYDRA. They were her closest friends, only JARVIS outweighing them. And maybe one more person whom she cannot meet for many years to come. Not yet._

_Still, after the world was convinced she was the Stark heir, her father's will was looked into and it turned out Howard had already written off all of his belongings to her. It would seem this version of him would have been the proud parent type and it only made the ache she felt at his and Maria's death worse as an old wound was reopened all over again. It also turned out this version of him was a paranoid bastard because he wrote in his will the company was her's as soon as she turns eighteen. That thwarted a lot of Obadiah's plans in trying to keep her away._

_For three long years, it was an uphill battle and only now_ hints _of its end were appearing on the horizon. Between that and HYDRA, adding a Kree-Skrull war wasn't the best of ideas. Especially as the time for Loki's fall approached, which meant New York and_ he _will come soon enough. She needed to buy more time._

_If only Odin weren't such a shitty father!_

_She needed more time._

_"Can I hold him?" She asked Fury innocently out of the blue, making him blink at the random question, especially given how grave their interaction had started._

_Still, he nodded and extended the cat-looking alien. "Sure. Just be careful. He's feisty."_ _Toni just smiled before letting her hand glow as she placed it over Goose's back. Not a moment later, the Flerkin coughed up the Tesseract, which she caught with magic, levitating it in the air between her a Fury. "Holy fuck!" Goose just purred as she scratched the Flerkin behind the ears. "What the fuck just happened!?"_

_And Toni only laughed._


	14. Chapter 14

_HYDRA fell as she had predicted, in the early spring of the next year and before winter came, so did Stane. Well, HYDRA was_ purged _from SHIELD, but they were still active to some degree. Toni was working with JARVIS and Fury on uncovering their bases all around the world while she employed Pepper and Happy and accepted Rhodey as her liaison with the military. No more weapons, that was clear as day to everyone in the world. Unarmed jets, armored vehicles and body armor for the soldiers, that was free game. As she looked over the stocks and the profits at the end of each quartal, she's impressed how much more money_ defense _earned than_ offense _. The only division that beat the one dealing with the military was the clean energy department. Though StarkPhones and StarkPads were a close second._

_She was preparing to go into the medical world with tools and prosthetics but she wanted to establish her place in the business world first and start up all of her old charity organizations, such as the Maria Stark Foundation, and, of course, the Stark Expo._

_She met Jarvis, at long last. He was old and wrinkly and still made the best hot chocolate Toni had ever tasted. He just looked at her, took in every aspect of her as she stood in his doorway, before drawing her into a tight embrace she was only too glad to return. They had stood there for what felt like hours but was too short before the man drew her into the safe house Nick had found for him. They talked for hours, having only exchanged one set of messages before Toni came to his doorstep when his wife, Ana, died and Toni expressed her condolences. She had loved Ana almost as much as her butler, but Jarvis will always have a special place in her heart. Jarvis was one of her constants and she has no desire to ever let that change. She even introduced him to her_ other _JARVIS and it was fun to watch the two interact and bond._

_Toni tried not to think about how close the dreaded date when Jarvis dies in his sleep was._

_JARVIS, as was established earlier, was one of her constants from cycle to cycle. Though, until this time, she had never had him stay with her. It was impossible, given literally only her soul transcended from cycle to cycle. Instead, each time, Toni taught a young JARVIS that she was not as old - or rather as_ young _\- as she seemed. She taught him from the beginning about magic and aliens and all the things she had learned over the long years in which she had existed. Usually, it took her a whole year to get everything out, as there was a_ lot _to tell and JARVIS refused to listen after a certain amount of time passed that she didn't eat or sleep, but this time ... Well, JARVIS had stayed with her in her vessel. He had been the only one keeping her sane in the long billions of years before even_ bacteria _existed, while it was just her and the forming universe and no living being to keep her company. As it was, she and JARVIS were slowly turning the world around. Soon enough, they'll enter that point in time which starts the battle for the universe. They're getting ready, making the appropriate changes while continuously fooling the world that she was a normal person just like everyone else. It was hard, it was trying and tiring but it was necessary. Toni Stark had to be a household name before her hero - read_ protector _,_ defender - _journey begins in order for the world to feel the impact and for a new era to begin._

 _The Ancient One pretty much ignored her when she did return to Kamar-Taj for rest. Toni didn't mind. It let her have JARVIS lead her onto the Internet for their further plans to be set in place. Ever since her first fifty cycles, Toni_ always _administered Extremis. In some cycles, it had made her practically god-like. It allowed her to control electronics while also having the standard supersoldier enhancements. She'd been hesitant to use it in those first fifty cycles. Extremis had its ups and downs, its mistakes and negative effects. In one cycle, wherein she distinctly remembers calling herself Superior Iron Man and being practically Earth's dictator, having all sorts of other heroes and vigilantes trying to stop and kill her - him? Even_ now _, after all this time, it was confusing. Kind of the reason why Toni stopped referring to herself by the gender of past lives and instead stuck by her current one. It was easier on her sanity that way - and fighting them while at the same time struggling to prepare the planet for the coming of her nemesis. She has some dark memories from those times. In a cycle where people called her the Invincible Iron Man, the fiftieth cycle to be exact, she managed to near perfect the Extremis serum. All the scientists of Earth, from Reed Richards to Bruce Banner to Hank the Beast to Hank Pym to Helen Cho to Dr Wu to Shuri of Wakanda and even to various aliens scientists and ..._ special _doctors, couldn't figure out what she had done to herself that time around. It had allowed her to download her consciousness into an AI form and then later heal her body after Captain Marvel had a go against her in the Civil War II. Yeah, that was a turbulent cycle, what with training Iron Heart - oh, the irony of it all - and then later dealing with Loki and becoming the Earth's Sorcerer Supreme in the next cycle almost right off the bat. Back then, she_ still _couldn't believe that was her ... existence and, to be honest, even today it all felt like a really weird, bad dream._

 _Still, all those experiences have taught her a lot. Like going onto the Internet and doing stuff, hunting down both enemies and allies. After all the different lives she's lived, she pretty much knows what to expect. While she was now playing the waiting game for the main event, there were still all sorts of things to do to make the world a better place and set the right groundwork for later projects of great importance. One of which was the rift between the mutant community and its two leading representatives. Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr were a couple of idiots she'd dealt with one too many times and their squabbles in ideals, morals and politics made it impossible for the Accords to work as they should because Magneto always admonished them as just another Mutant Registration Act instead of a set of laws that made the superpowered/enhanced/mutant/inhuman population accountable but also_ safe _, gave them legal and human rights that have been denied them for so long and kept them out of the hands of the military or scientists and the Professor went and made things all that much worse by trying to play mediator and ending up starting a new mutant fight. This time around, though, Toni could interfere as much as she wants and she's been at it for_ years _. Thankfully, mutants weren't the only ones who were showing signs of having powers by the time her journey will officially start in the eyes of the public. Still, JARVIS and her had much to prepare._

_For now, she just kept those two idiots busy. The less they interacted, the lesser chance there was for them to complicate her job any more than it already was. After all, Richards, his family and Victor Von Doom will be going to space in just a couple of years and they will be coming back with powers the likes of which the world has never seen before outside of mutants and, of course, Captain America. They will have superpowers and how they react to that will set the scores of how the public will take it. By then, she, too, will be making a splash the size of a tsunami. She'll have a say in it all soon enough._

_00000_

_New Year's Eve 1999 in Bern went about as well as she could have hoped for it to go, given she literally stayed long enough to give her speech, meet Dr Wu and Dr Ho Yinsen - oh god,_ Yinsen _\- and then left the building before either Maya Hansen or Aldrich Killian could get to talk to her. Killian, as much as he had been an outright bastard about 70% of the cycles she knew him in, still didn't deserve to just go and throw himself off of the building when the clock struck twelve. Toni could have stopped that, she knew. Had she stayed, had she talked to him, he would be alive. But he would also go one of three ways, one of which was so rare it happened only twenty times and that's an extremely low number given how many cycles she's lived through the AIM shit. He would either become a good guy if she helped him or he would try to undermine her, hack her tech and attempt to take over/topple her company. And that was_ if _she helped him in his research. If she didn't, he'd just go on and start his own terrorist organization and one day try to execute the president. As it was, this was the best option. She had accidentally learned if it when, one cycle, she met a particular_ doctor _and he successfully distracted her for the entire night from the moment he stole her away from Yinsen and Wu, not giving Killian an opening to speak with her. It was morbid, but it was the best option._

_Maya, on the other hand, was caught barely a year later in a secret underground HYDRA lab trying to perfect the Extremis virus. SHIELD had busted them and the woman was tried for crimes against humanity, domestic terrorism and using humans for test subjects. She had apparently become enough of a HYDRA believed to crack the cyanide pill in her mouth the second her sentence was read. She died in the court room and Toni just erased all digital evidence of her work. Good thing Fury was director now and knew these labs are to be burned to the ground unless they want to risk other bad guys getting their hands on some seriously messed up stuff and making more problems for them._

_Years passed and in 2008, the group called the Ten Rings struck in Afghanistan. Rhodey was going there for a weapons demonstration and Toni's presence was requested for a demonstration of her body armor for the soldiers. All of her friends and especially JARVIS made a fuss about her letting herself get kidnapped, apparently forgetting - or not particularly caring, in JARVIS' case - that she was immaterial and wouldn't get hurt. Toni didn't heed their pleas to reconsider and instead let it happen. Yinsen was in one of those caves and she was getting him out._

_Of course, the Ancient One was not at all pleased with Toni asking for_ her _stuff back, which she found hilarious. In the end, there was nothing the bald woman could do to stop her from taking her vessel and Toni used it to create an artificial, temporary body for herself and recreated what had for so long been one of her greatest nightmares. She stayed in Afghanistan for only three weeks this time around and actually managed to get Yinsen out of the cave - of course she did. She already had a perfect Arc Reactor and suit on her to get out - as well as destroying all of the weapons Stane had managed to sell to the fuckers before she put him behind bars. Nothing compared to the weapons she used to make for the government and this time around it had been because of a ransom rather than weaponry. Unfortunately, Yinsen was still injured and fir a long while, she had thought he wouldn't survive. Even with the help of her suit, it was a very close call by the time Rhodey found them. But Yinsen survived, recovered and she brought him back to a safe Gulmira after she made her first battle as Iron Maiden._

_Though, instead of dealing with Stane and that knock off Iron Monger armor this time around, Toni fought the actual Mandarin, the real leader of the Ten Rings who was none too happy with Toni destroying a big chunk of his terrorist cell. She did not like that this version of him also had the Makulan Rings - she had faced him in about a thousand different cycles, once as a teenager who still hadn't graduated high school but was already an armored hero - but, thankfully, it was only one so she was able to defeat him fairly easily even without showing her hand too soon. Iron Maiden was, of course, a hero and Toni still made her iconic "I am Iron Maiden" press conference. It was necessary. It was the start of her journey._

_And so the journey began._

_00000_

_She began working on the Accords with Fury and the UN even as in another state, the Hulk was born. Fury glared at her when he found out about Bruce Banner's accident and the being all that Gamma radiation had created. Toni made no comment, only handed him the clauses meant to protect her many times teammate and science bro from General Thaddeus Ross and allow him a relatively normal life while he tries to figure out how to live with his new alter ego._

_As she launched her Arc Reactor clean energy project and opened the Stark Expo in 2010, Ivan Vanko made his appearance. Only this time, Toni wasn't exactly a living being to suffer from palladium poisoning, though she did race in Monaco_ after _she stopped him from ruining everyone's day. She had her own security guard his cell and even left an Iron Maiden armor to act as a sentinel so Justin Hammer can't get to him and cause untold property damage and risk thousands of lives. The Expo didn't go without a hitch - 'Whiplash' still made an appearance but was easily subdued given the armor Toni was using even_ without _her actual Arc Reactor present - but it wasn't too big of a disaster. Hammer had no ground to stand on, the senators that requested a hearing with her regarding the armor and how she planned to use it were pleasantly courteous and_ not _HYDRA and were extremely interested in the Accords she'd started drawing up. She couldn't imagine a better way to introduce them to the world, really._

_It certainly lessened the tension between the Brotherhood and the X-Men, that was for sure, as well as seeming to calm the recently established Fantastic Four and even Doom. All in a day's work. Nice._

_She also met a certain boy that will one day grow up to be a great hero she will be proud to call her protege and pseudo son. She only hoped he has better luck this time around, though she knew she shouldn't hold her breath. There were some constants in every cycle that must happen, even as they differently shaped the future._

_Toni didn't interfere in the Asgardian Royal Family's business beyond informing Fury that his agents probably shouldn't approach the Destroyer Armor. She just watched the drama unfold as Loki found out he was adopted, Thor nearly died, Odin fell into the Odinsleep and Hela was left to defend Asgard. The brothers fought, Frigga wept, Hela raged at the two idiots and Thor broke the Bifrost. Loki fell and was lost and Toni grimaced in guilt as she watched him go to his torturer and soon to be enslaver, but she knew this was necessary. If nothing else, this should drive it into Odin's thick skull that he should listen to her more. She'd warned him about Loki's fall and he had disregarded it, confident in his biological childrens' abilities and loyalties to stop their youngest, adopted brother. Thor mourned but Hela raged. The need for Ragnarok nearly appeared again, so Toni interfered when Thor returned safely to his 'Lady', Dr Jane Foster, and she, Hela and Frigga rounded on Odin and talked his ears off until they bled. The old bastard just went back into the Odinsleep and left his grieving wife and seething daughter to deal with the chaos his stupidity caused. Odin had truly not counted on the bonds his children would forge and had expected blind loyalty and devotion._

_Toni had to reassure the two royal ladies of Asgard that Odin's stupidity hadn't cost Loki his life but that, when he returns, he will not be the same and he will need their support._

_About a year later, she came to Nick's apartment only to find it empty save for Goose, who kept her company for hours, almost the entire next day. She waited patiently until the Director of SHIELD made his way into the apartment, looking exhausted as fuck. Toni only took a peek at the calendar to know what was bothering him now._

_"Ah," she breathed in understanding, giving him a near pitying look. Sometimes, this time was the most trying in several cycles. "You met Steven Grant Rogers, Captain America."_

_"Just had him brought out of the ice a week ago. Showed signs of waking since yesterday morning. Woke up today and nearly seriously injured one of our agents when she was trying to keep him calm while we explained everything."_

_Toni snorted. "Oh, Popeye." She ignored the glare she got for the nickname. "I told you not to try that shit and just be upfront with Capsicle. He would have appreciated it more than the deception."_

_"You could have told me he'd seen that game, you know," he accused and Toni's snort this time was dismissive. He sighed and sat down on the better couch he'd bought once they started working on the Accords and he started getting cramps in his back and neck. "So, the time is almost here? For the invasion in New York? What's our play for that?"_

_"Well, as long as you haven't started messing with the Tesseract, everything should be fine." She'd specifically given him instructions_ not _to meddle with the Space Stone or try to use its energy as a weapon or something. The cube was currently locked away in a secret, safe bunker where she will wait for the right time to greet Loki once he returns to Earth with the Mind Stone. No mind control, no trauma, no 2012 New York invasion, no nukes heading fir New York and her eternal enemy will be none the wiser that his plan to erase her hadn't worked. "How's Cap taking to the changes?"_

_"Not well," Fury grimaced at his own admission and Toni nodded, knowing this fact already. "I don't think he's ready to face his 'miraculously alive' friend quite yet."_

_"I disagree. James would be a calming influence as he integrates into the new society." James Buchanan Barnes was found in one of HYDRA's bunkers when she and Fury started purging SHIELD of the Nazi organization. Toni had immediately created BARF and started ridding him of the Winter Soldier programming and giving him his life back. He, too, was adjusting but he seemed more fascinated than anything with the new world he was living in. Rogers will need his openness to all of that if they want a stable and accepting Captain America and not a man stuck in the past until it's too late, as has, unfortunately, happened a lot in the previous cycles. "They'll need each other, Nick. Don't drag this out."_

_In the end, Nick agreed. In his mind, Toni knew the best, after all._

_She never told him that 5% of the time, the man that wakes up from the ice is Commander Hydra._

_00000_

_On the expected date, Toni sits in front of the glowing Tesseract when a wormhole opens and out pops the god of mischief, eyes a bright blue instead of a cold green. He looks around, notices her and stops, obviously intrigued by what was essentially a free, wandering soul._

_"Who are you?" Loki asks, frowning, stepping closer with the Scepter with the Mind Stone poised for attack should he sense danger. Toni still moved faster, striking like a king cobra, placing two fingers on the Frost Giant's forehead and channeling the Arc Reactor's energy that was too similar to an Infinity Stone's energy signature to not be ineffective against the mind control Loki was under. She watched him sag as if his strings were cut and just sit-floated above him as he tried to regain some senses._

_"All you need to know is that I am the enemy of Thanos."_


	15. Chapter 15

_Loki easily became an ally and, with him, so did Thor, after he realized he had his brother back thanks to Stark's interference. She sat them down and started explaining the most important details of her story that they should know, soon after making a deal with them to better protect the Infinity Stones now in their possession. She got then to sign the Accords, join the fledgling Avengers Initiative and go back to Asgard with the Tesseract. Needless to say, Loki was welcomed like the Prince he was and Hela even had Odin apologize to him while Frigga held on and cried all over Loki even as Thor took them in an enormous bear hug. Toni already felt thankful that she had no physical body for the blond Asgardian to squeeze the life out of._

'Not yet, anyway.' _And not for a few more years she thought even as she made the final adjustments to keep the Mind Stone secure in the Tesseract's old place. Once she was satisfied, she returned to Kamar-Taj and waited for James to call._

_Five weeks later, she was showing the supersoldiers around New York, excusing some of her more 'peculiar' behavior on not liking to be touched - she couldn't take the Arc Reactor out all the time and she controlled her suits through mental remote control with JARVIS as her ever faithful co-pilot - after Afghanistan. Barnes was suspicious - though he was not surprised by this behavior, as Toni had insisted on the same thing during their BARF sessions. He had mostly agreed because he always feared he might accidentally hurt her should the Winter Soldier rear its head at the most unexpected of times - but let it be and Rogers was just grateful someone had taken the time to actually try and teach him properly about the world he had woken up in. Fury didn't like Toni exposing herself like that but this wasn't the first time Toni moved about without a body while tricking everyone else around her into thinking otherwise. Besides, it was necessary. She wants the Avengers to be as strong as possible this time around. She's not sure what other changes Thanos might have made or how else the lack of her proper existence in this cycle had changed the universe. They had lucked out so far._

_She eventually made Rhodey War Machine and crash-landed in Tennese so she can meet young Harley Keener, who will one day become Rescue. She brought Bruce home and had Fury assemble the team in 2014. A year later, she managed to get most of the other enhanced, superpowered, Inhuman or mutant individuals and teams brought under the Avengers Initiative and they were loved by the world. She also sent Romanov and Rogers to recruit Ant Man and the Wasp. Starks and SHIELD weren't welcome in Dr Hank Pym's house, even if she was bearing gifts of a possibility to return Dr Janet Van Dyne-Pym, the original Wasp, back from the Quantum Realm. Hopefully, Captain America might be, though there's as much of a chance Pym will turn him away because he sees him as something precious to Howard. Seriously, that's just bullshit but Toni knew there was nothing she could do about it._

_Thor and Loki came back, reporting to Toni and Fury that the Reality Stone was now placed somewhere else after the mess it made of the Nine Realms and London. They brought with them Valkyrie, who also joined the Avengers Initiative and brought their numbers up by one more powerful warrior. Things appeared to be going smoothly enough. Between all of them, they could finally start hunting down what was left of HYDRA, which was unfortunately still a lot. Still, they were efficient and there was less and less left of HYDRA every week. The UN approved of this effectiveness and worked well with them. There were no indications that a Civil War will start any time soon. Toni thought it to be a good time to bring in more players. She found Peter Benjamin Parker and brought him in as a part time member and started with him, Harley and some of the younger mutants and Inhumans the Young Avengers for underage members. They can become full-fledged Avengers after they hit twenty one and will be called out into the field only when absolutely necessary. Otherwise, they help with search and rescue and the relief efforts._

_She also had Fury contact Captain Marvel while she herself sent out a distress beacon she knew the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' will pick up and respond to. They arrived at pretty much the same time and got pretty much the same briefing from her and Fury before Danvers was taken to the side and they explained a little more in depth to her about Toni's situation. She had the same clearance as Thor and Loki, though after she eventually started dating Rhodey and showed where her loyalties lay, Toni let her know a bit more, making her closer to her new boyfriend's level._

_Toni was eventually reached out to by King T'Chaka of Wakanda, requesting a meeting with her regarding the Accords and the Avengers Initiative. As Wakanda was still closed off from the rest of the world and Kamar-Taj was practically up in arms after Kaecilius defected and took several dozen students with him as his followers, Toni agreed to the meeting but only in hologram form because 'she was so busy' these days due to finalizing reports on the Young Avengers, the joining of the Guardians of the Galaxy to their ranks and the report on the final fall of HYDRA. The King was, thankfully, a reasonable man and they scheduled a holo-conference later that week. Toni was both surprised and not at all to find the entire royal family as well as the Dora Milaje to be in attendance on the Wakandan side of the meeting. She guessed it was okay. She, after all, always had JARVIS with her, though she could see that they were more intrigued by the fact that Dum-E, U and Butterfingers were playing some game behind her back as she leaned against the workbench for the meeting. She always made her bots. They were the lights in her cloudy life and muggy days. They were her family, her kids, and she wouldn't change them for the world._

_By the end of that meeting, T'Challa and Shuri signed the Accords and joined as part time members of the Avengers and Young Avengers respectively and she and Shuri started up a scientific rapport that had even T'Challa dumbfounded most of the time. All in all, she had a new ally and new members even as she helped T'Chaka and T'Challa bring Wakanda back into the world after centuries of isolation. The mere fact that_ Toni Stark _, paragon and main preacher and practitioner of transparency and accountability, was vouching for them eased the transaction considerably. Toni at times felt like a hypocrite, as she talked about no secret keeping but kept the fact that she wasn't even_ alive _hidden._

_But then Dr Helen Cho finally invented her Cradle and Toni immediately set out on a collaboration effort with her. It's not as though Toni and JARVIS can't make one on their own, but she preferred to have a confidant in such things. She scheduled a meeting with the woman with Rhodey, Happy and Pepper flanking her as they got the doctor to sign a NDA and then she showed her the truth. Helen, unsurprisingly, was more than willing to help her create a body of her own after Toni explained the threat she knew to be coming and that only she could fight. With the help of Dr Wu, who also learned the truth for the sake of the project, the three of them started the painstakingly slow process of building Toni a body that she should have had from the beginning, had it not been for Thanos. Thankfully, Toni had kept a bit of her infant tissue and was able to do the same trick again for her new artificial but real body in order to give herself her own DNA structure. It was a project so secret she actually kept it from Nick. All she told him was that she could finally work on a weapon that will end the fight once and for all._

_They were reading a very interesting paper on the nervous system when the event finally happened, the accident that will change a man's life. Toni didn't dare look at the reports or the pictures. She prevented Helen from reaching out with the Cradle, knowing loss must drive the brilliant man in the direction he was meant to take. The universe will only push harder if this attempt was thwarted. Still, she did not go to Kamar-Taj right up to the moment when she felt some idiot approach her vault where the 'Heart of Iron' was kept. She wasn't even surprised by who she saw and whom she saved, but she still took him in like a drowning man did air._

_He looked almost exactly as she remembered him from each and every cycle. The man changed little, be it appearances or attitude. He was still tall, broad shouldered, trim and fit, a finely styled goatee and perfect hair, hands scarred, high and prominent cheekbones and the most amazing eyes Toni had ever seen. His robes changed sometimes through the cycles, but he always looked really good in them. He still didn't have his most loyal companion nor the power she was mostly used from him, but that would come soon enough and he was still as brilliant as always. She wasn't surprised that some of the first words exchanged between them were 'asshole' and 'douchebag'. In many cycles, those were endearments that only they were allowed to call each other. It confused the fuck out of other people, but they never tried to explain it, to themselves or anyone else. It's just how they worked._

_Much of their constant rapport stayed the same. The only difference was, now Toni knew magic, too, and currently better than Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, the best of all of the sorcerers, did. She was his mentor and taught him many things that she had learned over the cycles would be extremely useful to him and would usually take up too much of his time when he later trains for the title itself. They still talked about all sorts of things even as Toni helped the man study and practice. Their rough first meeting was forgotten in favor of how compatible they were and Toni tried to tell her 'heart' to take a break and stop pinning after a man who probably only saw her as his ghost mentor. She's well aware that could change, especially if this Strange looks into fourteen million six hundred and five futures like most of his iterations do, but she'd prefer it not to become so desperate a situation that he lives through that pain, ever. She knew battling Dormammu will leave enough of a mark on him as it is. No need to add more to it._

_"What's on your mind?" She shook off her thoughts when her companion asked, a curious but worried frown on his astral face. "You seemed deep in thought. I've tried calling you a few times but you weren't responding."_

_Toni just gave Stephen a small smile that felt a bit too shaky for her liking and waved him off. "Oh, nothing. Just ... Thinking about the past. I guess I really drifted off, huh?"_

_The doctor seemed to hesitate, as though fearing he might overstep. "Before you came to Kamar-Taj?"_

_Toni nodded, eyes getting glazed again. In truth, this was the only time she'd spent more than a year with the Sorcerers of Earth. And_ by far _. Now, she had practically been one of its founders and an 'administrator' for millennia. There really_ was _a lot of past before Kamar-Taj that it might amount to something normal if it is put in proportion with the rest of her experiences. "Yeah. I lost a lot and had nothing for a long while before I came here." Whole universes and too much time, an eternity almost, really. She wondered briefly how she had remained sane all these cycles and knew it was because she had a mission in front of her. She wondered if she'd be able to stay sane after she finishes this mission._

 _She'd never had as much time to think things through as this time around. She finally knew the answer to this conflict between her and Thanos. The answer became obvious after she realized how the universe had bounced back from the bent Thanos had made by erasing_ her _from physical existence. The end of one of them, whichever it may be, was not the answer. Toni would have never realized this had she not been removed from the picture and the universe retaliated in the only way it could, by giving her her Arc Reactor, her vessel, from the start. She finally had the_ right _answer and relief had been a very prominent emotion throughout the millennia she watched the world form and then move on. She only just had to prepare everything for that solution to be possible and she had been mostly successful so far._

_"You know what happened to my hands, what I lost," Stephen's reply snapped her once again back to the present, just the two of them meditating on the protection seals underneath Kamar-Taj, in its foundations. She payed close attention to her friend as he struggled to say what he wanted. "I thought I had no worth, no purpose and I ... I need that to move forward. I can now do these amazing things and I'll soon be able to help people again."_

_Toni tried not to be bitter about the implication of Stephen going back to his old life again. It had happened, in a few cycles, and she had only learned of it after Thanos came to Earth and far too easily ripped them apart because Karl Mordo could never measure up to Stephen Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme. Or those couple of times where Thanos never even got to them because Dormammu was released and devoured the Earth into his dimension with little to no resistance on their part because Stephen had quit and left as soon as shit started getting real in the New York Sanctum. There were also the ones wherein Strange fought off Dormammu but chose to channel magic into his hands in order to be a doctor once more and the then rouge Mordo would come for him and kill him, as well as every other sorcerer who had chosen to settle for their miracle instead of fight for their reality. Toni never blamed Stephen for his choice. Every sane person would run the other way when faced with the life of a hero. But that never stopped the disappointment when she found herself standing before Thanos without the most powerful Sorcerer Supreme of all. The Time Stone was defenseless without its Keeper._

_"Sometimes," she said, only distantly hearing her own voice. "We figure out our purpose only when it hits us in the face like a brick wall. And it's not always what we thought it to be. Destiny and fate work in mysterious ways." She let him ponder that as she left their little session early, wondering whether this cycle will be one of disappointment and the wrench in her carefully laid plans._

_00000_

_She almost believed it would be, when she and Stephen had that argument. She had not been planning on letting him know she was a ghost of her former self, not then and not ever. And to think that the conversation had even started off so well ..._

_She tried not to think about the "You aren't even_ human _" comment Stephen had thrown in her face and the reality and truth behind those words. Because she wasn't. She probably hadn't been for longer than this cycle she tried not to think of his accusations and tried even harder not to connect them with those old word's of "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play. To lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you" and her reply of "I think I'd just cut the wire". There was no cutting the wire in that accursed choice. You can't have the best of both worlds, Toni knew that intimately. She hated that Stephen and her had gotten into such a fight over something as stupid and trivial as that._

 _Toni waited and_ hoped _for a little over two days for Strange to come and find her, thinking he might apologize. She'd forgive him in a heartbeat but she suspected she won't be getting that apology in a long time, if ever, when the assault on Kamar-Taj - or rather the London Sanctum and then the other two - crumbled the ground underneath the strained friendship she was still holding out for. Toni knew her time at Kamar-Taj was up. If she stayed, she'd only be a distraction to Stephen in his training to become Sorcerer Supreme. Still, she waited for_ hours _, not even reacting to the death of the Ancient One, hoping Stephen will be back to at least see him one more time before they are ripped from each other until Thanos comes. But he didn't come. Instead, the sorcerer guarding the level her vault was died in an attempt to fulfill her duty as two of Kaecilius followers attempted to raid the vault. Toni just busted open the doors and took care of them with ease belying the too many years of experience she carried._

 _Stark then walked over to the magical gateway that led to the New York Sanctum and casually left Kamar-Taj behind with a last glance before she flew off to her Tower, waiting for the shift when Stephen's powers grow exponentially after his battle with Dormammu. When it happened, Toni sighed sadly and started working on the clause for the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj and their Sorcerer Supreme. She worked on them diligently and with great care. Depending on how good she could make these clauses, Kamar-Taj will either accept them or reject them and the latter was really not an option. They needed all the help they could get. Besides, it wasn't_ too _hard, really. She'd learned the order inside and out several times by now, especially that one time she herself had been Sorcerer Supreme. This time around was an added bonus of her having been one of the founding forces behind the order and knowing and 'ruling' beside each Sorcerer Supreme from Agamotto to the Ancient One. The next Sorcerer Supreme was not yet trained. She expected him to come into his own soon enough._

_And Stephen did. She felt the exact moment when all the magical energies on Earth shifted to accommodate and accept the newest protector of reality and the multiverse. Pepper watched in concern during a meeting between the two of them regarding some PR stuff as she shuddered through it, obviously wanting to help but not having the slightest clue as to how. Toni just waved her worries off as she tried to regain the breath that she didn't need as she wondered if the shift usually felt this intense or if she was just affected more than other practitioners of the Mystic Arts because of how she existed._

_She sent Fury to Strange - in Hong Kong, mind you, where SHIELD knew_ something _happened but they had no idea what, exactly, or how or why and Toni was not forthcoming with answers when Nick asked - to present him with the idea of joining the Avengers. Toni knew it will be an uphill battle to smooth all the ruffled feathers such a proposition will cause in the order but she also knew, ultimately, that the sorcerers will agree and fall in line with Stephen once they read the_ absolutely reasonable _Accords clauses created for them._

_She now knew Kamar-Taj inside and out and she had used that to its fullest._

_"Is it done?" She asked when Nick called her a week later. She had a feeling she knew the answer but asking never hurt._

_"It's done. Went down about exactly like you said it would. No additional requests. They accepted everything," Fury replied, sounding a bit horrified but she knew it's not from her predicting exactly how it will go. Fury may not know she was practically a secret part of the order since it was founded, but he knew enough of her past to not be surprised when she made such exact predictions._

_"Then what has you so ... I'd say spooked but I don't think you'd appreciate the word choice."_

_The Director of SHIELD didn't even seem to notice. "It was a lot like meeting you all over again."_

_At that, Toni just laughed._

_00000_

_"Is it done?" Yinsen, her long time friend by now, asked when he visited her one day in the workshop, turning up out of the blue, like he occasionally does. He, too, belonged to that tight circle that knew about the truth behind her existence. He was Yinsen. There was no way she was ever going to_ not _tell him._

 _"Yeah, we got it in the bag," Toni answered without looking up from where she was checking and making modifications to the body she, Cho and Wu were making for her, though a fond smile tugged at her lips at his presence. "I'm almost done here, too. By the end of the month, I can inject it with Extremis and after that, it'll be all smooth sailing. Once it settles, I can connect with it and then we just need to input the Arc Reactor. And when_ that _is done, I'll need a few weeks to get used to, you know,_ living _again instead of just existing like this. Will you be available?" She looked up, hesitant and hopeful in one. It was only fitting. Yinsen had started her on this journey all those cycles ago, that much she remembered despite long since lost tract if her original gender was male or female. It was her turning point and Yinsen was her guide. Only Yinsen can put in the Arc Reactor into her new chest._

_"I wouldn't miss it for the world," was his answer with a smile and Stark returned it._

'Soon.'

_00000_

_She was in a final physical therapy session with Helen and Wu when she felt it, that unmistakable presence that haunted her for so many cycles. Not yet there, but soon. A matter of hours._

_"Toni?" Helen asked with concern when the brunette went stiff as a board._

_"He's here."_

00000

The city around was covered in huge chunks of debris.

Behind her, there lay a large variety of heroes, from aliens, to mutants to Inhumans to superpowered and enhanced individuals and to baseline but trained or specially equipped humans.

There was smoke and gore all around them, making the scene one worthy of unrivaled horror or apocalyptic movies.

The fear was still palpable in the air.

No one was moving.

"Toni?" That dearly missed, familiar, _comforting_ voice reached her ears like it had over the billions upon trillions of cycles before and she felt a small part of her involuntarily relax. It was like a balm to her soul and she just took her first proper deep breath of air in this new vessel she has made for herself. She looked over her shoulder through messy, gently swaying in the wind chocolate brown hair and let a small smile stretch her lips, ignoring the gaping fallen Titan behind her or the stunned Rhodey, Carol, Peter and Harley - who all knew about her until recently lack of a physical form - or even the too shocked to properly react to _anything_ the rest of the Avengers and their allies.

"Hey, Stephen."


	16. Chapter 16

Stephen couldn't believe his eyes. It was just ... _impossible_. It had to be. There was _no way_ this could be true. And yes, he _did_ register a sense of deja vu for having these same thoughts again after the last time he had thought them, and about the same woman, no less. Only difference from last time was that he had thought it impossible for her to be anything more than a glorified ghost.

Now, he wondered just _why_ his life couldn't settle on whether he was pinning after an impossible woman or a woman who was very much possible but it would still be impossible for _her_ to want _him_.

She was gorgeous. Like, otherworldly gorgeous, whether she glowed that beautiful electric blue light or not. But, for the first time, he could see the _real_ her. Her hair was the color of sinfully dark chocolate and looked softer than silk. Her skin tone was a light olive, as though one of her parents came from a more exotic or simply warmer part of the world or that she simply lived on the beach or something. She was the same height as when they were talking to each other in the Astral Plane, which made her come up to about his neck. Her armor left pretty much nothing for the imagination the way it hugged the curves of her body. She was very gifted in the regards of her body. Her face was pretty, too. Full lips, petite nose, fine eyebrows ...

Her eyes were that same electric blue as he had always known them to be and, for the first time, he felt that they were _wrong_ , as though he had actually expected another color from Toni. Stephen realized he had, as his mind unhelpfully conjured up the images from a long forgotten dreams about twinkling laughter and pretty brown eyes. He has no idea why he has those eyes in his head, but he felt that they would have fit Toni maybe even better than the blue he was so used to, which was just weird.

All in all, Toni looked pretty much the same as when he used to talk to her pretty much every night, except she was now _solid_ like he had been led to believe she couldn't be. Toni was standing right there, in front of him, all powerful and gorgeous, the defender and protector she had always represented herself as, Thanos at her feet and the Infinity Stones merrily spinning around her hand. After so long of not being sure whether she was even still alive ...

Stephen just wanted to hug her and never let go.

"How?" The disbelieving question from Thanos broke their intense eye contact and both sorcerer and should-be-the-sentience-of-a-powerful-relic-but-apparently-wasn't turned their attention to him. The disbelief was written all over his face, too, staring at Toni as though she were a ghost come back to haunt him. "How is this possible?! I destroyed the very essence of you! I could understand if your soul still survived, but this ... This is _impossible_!"

"No, this is Toni Stark," Toni replied, and that response just sent Stephen's head reeling even more. He had never been one to follow gossip or social media or whatever. He had very little interest in celebrities, having focused too much on his studies and then his own career as a doctor. Of course, he knew who Toni Stark was and he had seen her picture a few times here and there over the years, but he had apparently never connected her with _Toni_. He felt like an idiot. Even through the color distortion, it should have been obvious, especially since he had seen Toni in a full on business suit a couple of times. "As for you destroying the very essence of me, as you can see," she indicated at her own body, a smirk in place. "You're quite wrong."

"You shouldn't be alive," the Titan persisted and the woman just shrugged.

"I wasn't, until some weeks ago."

"Oh, you crazy little piece of shit," Rhodes breathed, seeming to come to some sort of realization. "Yinsen knew about this, didn't he? Is that why he stopped by?"

"Yinsen, Helen, Wu, JARVIS and I. No one else. Not EDITH, not JOCASTA, not KAREN or you or Pepper or Happy or the kids," Stark explained, eyes still trained on her enemy. "Not even Fury knew and you can bet your ass he's going to be on _my_ ass when he finds out, if he hasn't already."

"Okay, can someone _please_ explain what's going on? Because I'm lost," Barton piped up and, for once, Stephen was grateful. He, too, would _seriously_ like to know as he himself was lost.

"Yes, some explanation would do us all good," Wong agreed as he managed to get to his feet with the help of another sorcerer. Stephen was standing only due to stubbornness and the Cloak of Levitation. Had it not been for his loyal companion, he very well would have been sprawled on the ground still. "Like why there exists a sorcerer powerful enough to not only battle the Mad Titan but also to play around with the Infinity Stones like that while still remaining undetected by the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj." Then he shot a glance in the direction of the Sorcerer Supreme. "Or how you know Stephen."

"Toni's not really the woman she presents herself to be," Rhodes started, gesturing at said woman. "Genius, billionaire, philanthropist ... That's the image she crafted over the years to hide the fact that she pretty much came out of nowhere."

"More accurately, she shouldn't exist. At all," Danvers cut in, sounding more like herself now that the initial shock wore off. "The real Antonia Stark is dead. Has been since September 1970. She wasn't even born to begin with. She died an infant when her mother was strangled."

"Then who," Rogers asked, pointing at Toni. "Is this?"

"Antonia 'Toni' Stark. Or at least her soul. My original body died a very long time ago, Cap, influenced by this one's," here she actually kicked Thanos in the face with her boot, showing no remorse for it even though he was down and unarmed. Not so surprisingly, no one had complaints or problems with that. "Meddling. The accident," Stephen noticed her grimace and the flinch from Barnes at the word. Well, that was interesting and required further questioning. "Happened about twenty years too early, taking out the entire Stark family with it."

"Then how are you alive?" Romanov questioned, squinting suspiciously at her. "And how would have Thanos influenced anything? This is the first time he came to Earth."

"In _this_ cycle and universe, yes." Both enemies said at the same time before Toni kicked him halfheartedly again to shut him up. He just grunted but wisely stayed quiet. For now, anyway. "And he did it using these," Toni lifted her hand to show them the Infinity Stones dancing around it. "In the last cycle when we were struggling in our usual song and dance. I didn't know the consequences until moments before the birth of this universe and I realized there was no thread of fate that belonged to me. I simply didn't exist. Toni Stark didn't exist. Unknowingly, in an attempt to rid himself of his greatest enemy and to weaken me in possible future cycles, he gave me a blank slate. I had _no_ limitations as to how I can influence this universe. I didn't have to worry about things that might affect my birth or life since I won't have one. Without knowing it, Thanos has created a _god_." She looked her nemesis in the eyes and smiled at him in a very unpleasant way. "You removed my limits and confinements of flesh and destiny. I could do whatever the hell I wanted and no one would suffer consequences. I've prevented so many deaths and so many tragedies, or have you not noticed how Xandar was abandoned and Knowhere empty?"

"How are you _alive_? How did you survive me erasing you from existence?" That seemed to be all Thanos wanted to know.

Toni just arched an eyebrow at him. "I am alive because this isn't the first time I've made an artificial body, be it for myself or someone else. And as I remember all of the _trillions upon trillions_ of cycles we've battled through, I knew how to do it. As for why I even _exist at all_ , you can thank the universe or multiverse or whatever thing/power keeps throwing us into these cycles. They weren't happy with the way you tried to resolve our conflict before it even started this time around. They made sure you couldn't." At his continued disbelieving expression, she chuckled - a bit darkly - and walked over to crunch in front of the defeated purple behemoth. "Oh, you poor, unfortunate idiot. You don't even realize, do you."

"Realize _what_?" He tried to spit at her but he had no way of reaching her. He was pinned down competently and efficiently.

"In our last battle, in the previous cycle, I realized something very important. About you. About me. About the universe. About _us_." Stark brought her hand with the Infinity Stones right in front of Thanos' face and the Titan flinched away. Toni chuckled. "Unfortunately for the both of us, as well as the universe at large, we are connected, our fates intertwined, along with the fate of the universe itself. If one of us _dies_ , then so will the other two. And that, unfortunately, will lead us into another new cycle. You always thought destruction and death was the answer, so it made sense to the universe to create someone who sought solutions in _creation_ and _fixing things_. We were meant to balance each other. And I was blind to that for far too long, following your line of reasoning and trying to kill or destroy you. But then I realized that that was folly and in fact that which kept the cycles coming. So I'm not going to kill you, Thanos. As long as we keep raising knives at each other, these cycles will keep repeating and I rather like how I directed this one. It is, after all, the reason why I made myself a physical body." She stood up, looking triumphant the way she hadn't when she had bound him moments ago. " _Plenty_ waits for me, Thanos. The next cycle, when it happens, won't be kind on you."

Unexpectedly, Thanos laughed at that. It was unsettling and Stephen wasn't even ashamed by being uneasy about that. He wasn't the only one. In fact, _Toni_ was the literal _one one_ who wasn't shuddering at the cackling coming from the Mad Titan. "You grow more foolish by the cycle, Stark. You should know by now that there is no prison that can hold me. Neither magical nor technological. We both know you've tried both and neither succeeded."

"That's why, this time," she leaned down at the waist in order to look more menacing with proximity. "I'll be combining the two." When she stood up straight again, she had a very intimidating grin on her face. Stephen wondered how this was the same woman whom had joked and laughed with him, who had taught him so much of what he knew of the mystic arts. Then again, he remembered their argument before the Heart of Iron was stolen - or was it? He was starting to doubt that and that only hurt all the more because it meant Toni could have _come back_ anytime she wanted but had instead chosen to stay away - and how it wasn't her stance or any aggressiveness on her part that had made her scary. It had been a simple look in her eyes even as her face remained blank. So yes, he guessed he _could_ connect the woman who wore old rock band T-shirts to this female formidable warrior that had single-handedly taken down one of the greatest threats Earth had ever faced. "You don't think I've been idle all this time, do you? I've never been the lazy sort. My mind needs stimulation in order for me not to go completely insane. So I planned and theorized and practiced. But, most importantly, I learned all there is to be taught in Kamar-Taj. Hell, you could say Agamotto and I are good buddies." And here Stephen had thought this couldn't get crazier and _more_ impossible. "I've had the help of every Sorcerer Supreme to develop the spell I need, you were so kind to bring me the Infinity Stones and we both know I have no match in technology."

"No," the warlord whispered as he finally realized the error of his ways and the finality of his judgement. "You can't!"

"Oh, but I can," Iron Maiden replied easily, taking on a surer stance as a swarm of nanites exited her suit. "I can and I will. You've had _many_ chances, far, far too many, to go down a different path. You knew I would stand in your way. You knew I won't give up until I find an ending I am satisfied with. You knew that attacking my home and my loved ones will bring out the worst in me. They once called me the Merchant of Death, if you'd care to remember." Toni's eyes flashed and the nanites started covering Thanos from head to toe. He screamed, though it was more in rage, fear and panic rather than pain. Stark ignored him, hands already moving through the air as spells and shields and seals started appearing in the air around her. "Yet you still challenged me. You still pushed. You wouldn't let it go. The universe kept telling you _No, this isn't what I want_ and you kept ignoring that. You brought this on yourself."

"This isn't over, Stark! I am _inevitable_!" Thanos shouted before the nanites covered him whole, forming a big sphere to be his eternal prison. The spells that had been floating around Stark immediately surged to wrap around or sink into the ball.

Toni made a few more hand gestures before she stopped and let all the spells slowly fall into place. She raised her hand and let the Infinity Stones floating around it sink into her gauntlet like they had been wanting to for the past half an hour or so. "And I," she seemed to take in a deep breath but no pain colored her voice or expression despite the obvious surges of power traveling through her whole body from where the Infinity Stones were trying to seemingly melt into her skin. "Am Iron Maiden." And as she repeated her earlier statement, Toni snapped her fingers and the Infinity Stones shone brightly as a rainbow of colors enveloped the sphere she had made. Thanos screamed all sorts of profanities from the inside but Toni paid no heed. Instead, a wormhole opened under the sphere and it shot right through, disappearing in a second. As soon as the portal closed, the Infinity Stones seem to be ejected from the red gauntlet and Toni gasped for air as though it had be knocked out of her, doubling over as if in spite of herself.

"Toni!" Stephen found himself calling out and launching forward within a single heartbeat, steadying her with shaky hands despite not being completely steady on his own two feet, either. The Infinity Stones were once again dancing all around Toni, poking her and trying to return to her hand. The Cloak shooed them away as though they were flies, but that didn't deter them. In return, that only made his companion all the more adamant to brush them off, which created a pretty comical sight, especially considering that all seven of them were powerful semi-sentient or sentient artifacts, six of which had shaped the universe. And yet all Stephen could focus on was the woman in his arms, who seemed to have liquid blue fire coursing through her veins. "Are you alright?"

The brunette raised her head and leaned it on his shoulder. The sorcerer tried not to shiver at every huff of air that tickled his skin with every breath. "The endgame, Doc. The endgame ... "

"What about the endgame?" Asked the confused former neurosurgeon. He tried not to sound as panicky as he felt. Were they talking about chess or something much, much more he'd rather not contemplate.

Toni just chuckled. "It's over. Checkmate. The king is finally toppled. I can rest now."

Stephen tried to ignore how his heart broke. Right. Toni had said she had a purpose. She'd said that it was her dream to no longer be needed. Considering how long she'd been fighting, she probably deserved the rest. But that didn't mean that Stephen didn't selfishly want her to stay with him. He had been searching for her for so long. He didn't want to go of her. Strange had lost her once and that was even before he could properly get to know her. He ... He didn't want to regret that for the rest of his life, no matter how short or long. But he wouldn't deny her the rest she had so rightfully earned, judging from the sound of things.

So he just carefully slid down to his knees and brought Toni to rest across his lap, leaning against his chest. She made no protests and he wondered if she was ready to face death. He guessed that she was probably like millions of him and his experience with Dormammu, so death was probably nothing new for her. Still, he agreed with the Ancient One. No one is ever ready to face death. And yet ... Toni looked almost ... content. Like this was a long time in coming. He tried not to think about it, instead leaning down to rest his chin on her head, fighting back tears when she nuzzled into his hold.

"It's okay. We're going to be okay." Was that seriously his voice? It sure as hell didn't sound like it. But, then again, he hadn't felt a grief like this in a vary long time. Can you really blame him? He was personally of the opinion that he was holding out pretty well. He doubted anyone else would be taking this so well. Pain was an old friend.

He tried not to think about how nothing had ever hurt this much before.

"You can rest now."

And Toni just closed her eyes with this small, happy smile on her lips, content that her purpose was fulfilled.

And Stephen broke down, holding her tight and not caring about the eyes on him.

He was allowed to grieve.


	17. Chapter 17

"Shut up."

"No, seriously."

"I said, _shut up_."

"Aren't you supposed to be some genius doctor?"

"I'm warning you."

"Oh, come on. You have to admit that it's funny. No, it's _hilarious_."

"You. Don't you get into this, too. It's all your fault, anyway."

"She's not to be blamed for you being a dumbass, Stephen. That's all on you."

"Last warning, Wong."

"I'm honored that I'm at fault for this. You losing your cool like that was _priceless_."

A growl.

"Come now, Strange. You really made an idiot out of yourself. The woman had said just moments prior to that that she had constructed herself a body and that many things wait for her. Do you really think anyone would go through all that trouble just to kill themselves in the end for an unworthy waste of space Titan?"

"For as long as I've known her, she spoke of an enemy that had erased her from existence before the birth of the universe, of a purpose she needs to fulfill so she can _rest_ , of wanting everyone to be safe so she isn't needed anymore. Enemy defeated. Purpose fulfilled. Everyone's safe. Please excuse me for making the only logical assumption with these facts and the way she was acting like she was ready to die."

"Well, you know what they say about assumptions."

"Don't start with me, Wong."

"Besides, I've only told you about my 'ancient enemy' on the literal last day we've talked. You didn't even know I'm not a living person before then, so don't even-"

"The _point_ of this conversation, Toni, is that I thought you were _dying_ so of course I freaked out!" Stephen finally exclaimed, glaring at his two friends who had been teasing him nonstop since it turned out Toni's new body was just exhausted as it still hadn't adapted to the ways she used it in the battle against Thanos and she just ended up needing a good nap to be as good as new. "I've been looking for you since the day we thought the Heart of Iron was _stolen_ and it's been a long two years! I thought I was losing you all over again, you douchebag!"

Toni just rolled her eyes, even as she leaned on Stephen for support as they walked towards the meeting Fury had arranged in order to get the full story as to _what the fuck happened_ as soon as Toni wakes up. She woke up two hours ago and Stephen had managed to delay the meeting by insisting she needs nutrition and a throughout checkup before he was letting them lay in on her, calling on his doctor's rights. In those two hours, unfortunately, Wong and Toni seem to have become fast friends and while that eased Stephen's heart, he also cursed their meeting as they almost immediately ganged up on him to tease him about his - very embarrassing - freak out when Toni passed out from exhaustion. They were menaces to society and all good Sorcerer Supremes alike.

Worst of all, the Cloak of Levitation loves her and has spent the past two hours mocking Stephen for getting to snuggle with Toni while he didn't. Traitor. Let's see if Stephen buys him his favorite fabric softener anytime soon for this betrayal.

Toni at least seemed to soften at that, favoring him with that warm smile of hers that he had missed so much and feared never seeing again. It looked even better now that she could relax. She no longer had anything to worry about and it showed by how much lighter her gait was and how her eyes sparkled more. Her plan had worked and the universe was safe. She could live out the rest of her life this time around without worrying about idiotic tyrants and galactic warlords.

"While I insist on correcting you about the name of this little wonder," she tapped lightly on the blue light in her chest. "Being the Arc Reactor and not any sort of heart and that it _was_ stolen, only by me, mind you, I am sorry if I worried you. I just want you to know it was never my intention to worry or hurt you, even though I knew, logically, that it was bound to happen either way. We had gotten too close for it to be otherwise."

"And that's not a bad thing, either. Is it?" Stephen didn't think so but Toni might have an entirely different perspective on that. She kept talking about cycles she's lived through and Stephen still remembered with terrifying clarity how Stephen had, apparently, stolen Toni 'from him', whatever he had actually meant by that. The Sorcerer Supreme had his suspicions about what all of that meant and the explanations Toni will give once the meeting starts, but he didn't really care about that for the moment. Toni's response was all that mattered.

"Of course not. It's _great_!" The woman exclaimed enthusiastically, grinning up at him. "I've had rare few constants in my _very_ long existence, Stephen. You were always one of them, this way or that."

"Is that why you were always angry at the thought of me leaving the order?"

Toni winced at that. "Only partially. It was mostly because I've seen cycles where you never became or quit being a sorcerer, let alone the Sorcerer Supreme. Let's just say no matter what I did, those universes were screwed."

Yeah, Stephen winced at that, too. "How many did you see and live through?"

"I stopped counting after fourteen million six hundred and five."

Now both sorcerers winced as they tried to digest the information. The mere _thought_ of that number sent chills down Stephen's spine. It wasn't a small number. Just the thought of his friend going through over fourteen million _existences_ ... How was she still sane? How hadn't she lost her mind? How was she still so kind and bright and willing to fight and sacrifice for an ungrateful universe? He wasn't sure if he could have held up under such a burden. Sure, he had died only the Time Stone knows how many times in his struggle with Dormammu, but this ... This was different. Toni had watched it all begin and end and begin again only to end once more in a continuous loop, not being able to stop it repeating again and again. No matter what she had done, what she sacrificed and lost, how hard she fought, what she won or even the defeats she faced, it would all just start all over again until the universe received the ending it wanted. It had taken Toni so much more than fourteen million six hundred and five cycles of the universe for her to find the solution it would accept. And that was only the number of times she had bothered to count. Who knows how many more there were between that fourteen million six hundred and fifth and the one happening now!?

If he had ever lacked admiration, respect or awe of Toni before, that realization gave him a more than healthy amount.

"In how many did you win?" Wong asked and didn't even flinch when Stephen gave him a furious glare. That was perhaps the stupidest thing to ask her right now that he could think of. There's a fucking good reason Stephen hadn't, no matter how tempted he was.

"One." That caused both sorcerers to pause, stopping in their tracks in the middle of the Avengers Compound hall they had been walking down in order to get to the meeting room.

"But ... but ... "

"It's this one," she cut off whatever Wong was trying to say, looking Stephen in the eye for some reason. "In the first cycle I have any recollection of, we barely knew each other for twelve hours when we fought Thanos. You used the Time Stone to look into the future and saw exactly fourteen million six hundred and five. In fourteen million six hundred and four, we either lost or won by unacceptable means. There was only one victory. You, or rather the Doctor Stephen Strange of that universe/cycle, led us down to that path by giving up the Time Stone for me. Thanos won. We lost. Half of the universe was turned into dust. He destroyed the Infinity Stones. Thor cut off his head. We had no means of getting everyone back. Five years later, we did. I invented time travel. We went back through time and collected the Infinity Stones. Sacrifices were made. I built a second Infinity Gauntlet with my nanotechnology. The Hulk undid Thanos' snap with his own. Everyone was brought back. Unfortunately, Nebula, who was on the time travel team with us, got captured and Thanos used her device to come into the future with us. We fought. He got his hands on the Gauntlet. You pointed one finger up fir me. _One_. I knew this was it. I managed to wrestle the Stones from him without him noticing. He snapped his fingers, intent on killing _everyone_. Nothing happened. I snapped. Thanos and his army disintegrated. Everyone was safe. I died. I thought I could rest. And then I was born again."

"Toni ... " the horrified doctor turned sorcerer breathed, aghast that it had been him who had not only gotten Toni killed but had also imprisoned her in these repetitive cycles.

"I lived. I fought. I sacrificed. I died. I lived again. I killed. I lost. I grieved. I won. I died. I was born again." Toni never looked away from him, never sounded accusing. There was a sad little smile on her face. "At first, I was only aware of the lives I lived. Then, I started being aware of things after my death and then things before my birth. As more cycles passed, the more I was aware of. At some point, it got to being from start to end. _Everything_. It was horrible until I learned how to influence things even when I wasn't alive. The game changed then but we were still in the endgame. Every cycle was a round for us. There was no real victory or defeat. Neither of us succeeded in our goals. Until last cycle, when I finally understood. Until this cycle, when I finally found a way to end it."

"How can you be sure this is the end? That there won't be any more cycles after this one?" This time, Stephen didn't glare at his fellow sorcerer. It was a valid question, one he was sure Toni must have tortured herself with in the millions of years she'd spent alone or building Kamar-Taj with Agamotto.

"I can't. I don't," Stark replied, finally looking away from Stephen's eyes, breaking their lock. "Neither nor both of our deaths was the answer, so I figured both of us staying _alive_ was. Unfortunately, Thanos and I are indeed connected with each other and the universe. I have been blindly following my first cycle's actions and plans and goals in ridding the world of Thanos and the threat his madness represents. I'm actually ashamed that it had taken me so long to figure that out, given that the Stones reacted to us both."

"They seem to prefer you," Strange observed, eyes flicking to where the Infinity Stones were _still_ dancing around Toni and, now that she was leaning on him as they were making their way to the meeting, Stephen, as they had ever since Toni passed out. The Cloak still occasionally batted them away, seemingly annoyed with the levitating gems. Well, they _were_ sort of stealing its thunder.

"They often do, in the end. Anyway, as for the no more cycles part of your question, that's pretty much impossible. There will always be a next cycle."

"Then what was the point of you doing all of this?" Wong asked, incredulous, and Stephen realized he had echoed him. If the cycles will just repeat coming, all of this seemed pointless in his book. Toni had just wasted another cycle and will have to do the same in the next one all over again. It seemed like too cruel a fate to exist. An endless torture. A loop of pain and loss and struggle.

But Toni didn't seem disturbed or deterred by this. In fact, she only rolled her eyes at them. "The point was that I have finally managed to create an eternal prison for Thanos, which means, when the next cycle dawns, he'll still be trapped. I quite literally sealed his fate. Every cycle that happens from now on until the multiverse itself ceases to exist, Thanos won't be able to bother _anyone_. He's stuck out of time, out of space, out of reality, out of ever dimension and universe and even outside of the space occupied by beings who do not exist within the universe. I doubt even the One Above All would be able to reach him now."

"Who?"

"An entity more powerful than Dormammu but, thankfully, benevolent." Stephen decided he'd have to read into that. He'd never heard of this 'One Above All'. And from the looks of it, neither had Wong. He guessed there were perks to being a practical _god_ / _goddess_ , such as knowing some real important, big deal people and entities. "Anyway, aside from that, I'm hoping that doing this will enable me to forget everything when the next cycle begins."

"What? Why?" Wouldn't it be easier to protect the universe from _other_ threats if she kept her memories? And then Stephen winced when he realized how selfish that might be, despite the selflessness of the thought's origin. Toni had already been at this for trillions of cycles. She wanted rest. She'll probably welcome death this time around like an old friend and be completely thrilled if she feels her memories and awareness start to fade. She deserved that oblivion. "Right, never mind."

Iron Maiden just laughed that twinkling laugh, the sound of which he had missed and truly feared he'd never hear again. Despite everything, relief and warmth finally washed over Stephen and he felt his lips tilt into a hopeless grin. Wong must think him an idiot. Or, more likely, a lovesick idiot. Stephen wouldn't even deny it. He knew the truth himself. He had been very awkward with himself after he realized the nature of his feelings for Toni given that she was practically a ghost and not even that. Even when he had believed her to have never been a real, living person, when he had berated himself constantly for falling in love with the sentience of an ancient, powerful, magical artifact, he couldn't shake his feelings for her, couldn't rationalize them away, and he had resigned himself to his feelings being genuine and deeply rooted. He had thought himself a fool for being more than willing to settle on loving a person he will never be able to hold outside of the Astral Plane and had called himself a million different kinds of idiot and, in the end, he had just wanted her back. He wanted to apologize. He had been such an asshole and-

And he hadn't apologized yet.

"Wong, can you leave us for a moment? There's something I want to discuss with Toni, please." Toni and Wong exchanged a glance, as did he and Wong and then he and Toni. The Cloak just watched them all like it was following a tennis match before shooing the other sorcerer away and attempting to do the same with the Infinity Stones that irked it so. Wong just rolled his eyes and huffed at it but followed along, going no doubt to the meeting room to inform the Avengers of their immediate arrival, but the Infinity Stones didn't budge, which led to an animated argument between seven entities that could only use gestures to communicate and it looked angry and aggressive and resembled an argument more than anything. Soon enough, they were distracted enough that they didn't realize Toni had pulled them a bit away from them so they could talk. Well, the Time Stone did and was, surprisingly enough, content to just hover by them as though it was watching. It was a bit unnerving how it was just ... floating there, but Stephen had at this point seen stranger things.

Go figure this was his life.

"Right," he drawled before taking his gaze away from all of the Stones and the Cloak, instead turning his attention back to the expectant but knowing Toni. She just smiled at him and patted him on the chest companionably.

"It's okay, Stephen. I know what you want to say and it's okay. I forgave you a very long time ago." He must have been making a very incredulous expression that was either hilarious or a bit off putting, because she laughed and Strange tried not to get lost in the sound or the stars that were twinkling in her eyes. Oh, by the Vishanti, he _was_ nothing more than a lovesick idiot. Still, that laugh was definitely worth any embarrassment on his part. "Oh, Doc. Did you forget already? I've known trillions of versions of you for who knows how many years and I've known _you_ for a good number of months before we had our argument. I know how you are. I know how you can lash out. And while I won't deny that it _did_ hurt my feelings to be reminded of just how little humanity remained in me, I got over it. I never held it against you. You were just told that what you're looking fir is impossible by someone whom you considered a mentor and a close friend, if I dare be optimistic about that. I reacted much worse to some of the things my friends told me over the cycles. Or didn't tell me but I found out anyway." The last was muttered under her breath, so obviously not meant for Stephen to hear, even if he did. Still, he didn't ask. It was obviously something that probably still bothered her more than she'd like to admit. Like it bothered Stephen still that his hands shook. It was just something one must learn to live with. "Either way, you don't have to apologize to me. I get it."

Stephen frowned in sadness at that, feeling a painful pang in his heart. "But I _do_ need to apologize. Just because you _understand_ why someone did or said something doesn't mean they're not _wrong_ or that their actions and words hadn't hurt you. You're allowed to feel wronged, Toni. You have emotions, too. No one's asking you to be a robot." He paused, taking a deep breath and taking a careful step away from Toni, keeping a wary eye on her in case she suddenly lost her footing.

"Stephen?" The uncertain, confused way she said his name was not something he was used to from Toni. He didn't like it. She was the strongest, most powerful person he had ever known and it wasn't even just because of the power she holds - which he still didn't quite understand, but he figured she'd explain soon enough. Toni was just amazing the way she was _because_ she was that way. She didn't need anything else to be strong.

Which is why he gave her a deep bow at the waist, face towards the ground, the way he had been taught in Kamar-Taj to apologize when he feels he had shown disrespect to someone whom he truly appreciates and respects. It's an Asian thing that he found humbling and that he had purposefully learned about just so he can properly apologize to Toni. "I'm sorry." Toni was silent, out of shock or uncertainty as to how to take his apology remains to be seen. "I should have never said the things I did, no matter the circumstances. You have ... Always been someone whom I've felt the deepest respect and appreciation. You've taught me so many things and been my friend and the light of my life when my days were dark and dreary and everyone around me pretended it was perfectly fine. The nights we spent talking, joking and laughing together are some of my fondest, most precious memories and you are, without a doubt, the best friend I have ever had. I hold you in the highest regards, Toni, and I hope you can forgive me and my foolish words. I have been unfairly cruel to you when you have never been anything but kind and caring towards me. I'm not going to ask for forgiveness, as I believe that should be something you freely give, however I _am_ selfish but also not a liar so I will openly admit to hoping for it." He stands up straight again, meeting Toni's eyes with a small, sad smile of his own when he sees the disbelief in her eyes. "I've searched for you for as long as I have because the thought of never seeing you again is practically a physical pane. I've missed you, Toni, and am infinitely glad that you were alright and that you _are_ alright right now. Whatever happens from this point on, remember you will always have a friend in me, whether you want me as such or not, and that you will always have my full support."

"Stephen ... " she whispered softly and said sorcerer shrugged a bit awkwardly.

"Well, unless you suddenly decide you want to destroy the world." He tried to grin and dispel some of his awkwardness from how intense everything got and was relieved when Toni laughed. "You know I can't, if that happens." He figured he might as well continue the joke. "I _am_ the Sorcerer Supreme now and it is my duty-"

"Shut up, Strange," was all Toni said before leaning up, wrapping her arms around his neck and unexpectedly pulling him down into a surprise kiss. _And_ has officially shut down. Reboot, reboot, reboot! It wasn't even a deep or carnivorous one, just a tender brush of lips that lingered for a number of seconds before the brunette pulled back and smiled mischievously up at him. He must have had quite a dumbstruck - or more accurately _lovestruck_ \- expression on his face because she giggled and gave him a flirtatious wink even as she patted his cheek fondly once, twice and then pulled back. He was only half aware of the Infinity Stones immediately zooming over to her, once again dancing around them like she was the sun and they were a part of her solar system, much to the Cloak's annoyance at being ignored.

The red piece of sentient magical cloth would have huffed had it had the parts necessary to preform the action before drifting over to its master. Stephen didn't even notice when it settled on his shoulders and patted his cheek in much the same way Toni had moment before. When he didn't react even to that, the already annoyed Cloak nearly poked him in the eye to get his attention and even then it was successful only in getting the mighty Sorcerer Supreme to touch his lips in a dreamlike daze.

"You coming, Doc?" Toni's voice, though, snapped him out of his stupor and he looked up to see her sauntering away without a backward glance but not too fast of a pace, clearly expecting him to follow.

Hopelessly lost in his warm daze created by love, blushing and ignorant of the butterflies flying around his head, Stephen did.

He'd go wherever Toni did, as long as she would take him.


	18. Chapter 18

"I expect an explanation, _Antonia_ ," was the first thing Fury snapped when he and Toni walked into the room, glaring at the once bodiless woman. Stephen had to be led to a seat in between Toni and Wong, still a bit too out of it to do it himself, much to everyone's confusion, Wong's exasperation and Toni's amusement. He's not even surprised they are confused. They all knew Stephen as this serious asshole who throws around sarcastic comments like rice at a wedding and is literally unflappable. He had been the only one not freaking out when they had initially faced Thanos and had also been the last one remaining standing and attempting to stand and fight. To see him like this must be disconcerting and yet Stephen didn't have enough mental facilities at the moment to care.

Toni had kissed him. _Toni_ had kissed _him_. Toni had _kissed_ him. He figures he has a good enough of an excuse to be so air-headed at the moment.

"I'm afraid that's too broad of a request, _Nick_ ," Toni fired back casually, letting Peter, Kamala, Dante and Harley fiddle with the little nanite hologram projector she had made them after they started asking too many questions for her to answer. Shuri was no doubt jealous that she was missing out on the opportunity and was just as doubtlessly cursing being a princess because it meant she had to sit on the other end of the table with T'Challa and their parents instead of exploring Stark's tech. On the other hand, she had passed Rhodes and Barnes balls of that familiar blue energy to fiddle around with, whether to calm them or just to show off what she could do, Strange couldn't tell. The kids looked ready to snatch the one from Rhodes' hands soon enough to examine Toni's magic as well as her technology, though it looked like the borders between the two were pretty much too blurred to make out where one begins and the other ends. As a former scientist, Stephen knew that would be extremely frustrating. As the current Sorcerer Supreme, he learned to just go with it.

Shit like that was pretty much a part of his everyday routine, although definitely not in the Toni way. Toni was anything but ordinary or an everyday occurrence and this is coming from the guy who used to spend almost every single day with her not all that long ago. And the guy she had just _kissed_ moments ago.

Yeah, his brain was still stuck on that. Sue him.

"Don't be like this now, Toni. We just want answers," Rogers sighed, sounding tired and resigned that this was his life now and the explanations and impossibilities hadn't even started yet. Stephen kind of felt bad for the guy. From what he understood, Ms Stark for him and Barnes was, like, the most ordinary thing in the modern age. She had been the one who had introduced them and helped them settle in. She was their connection to both the past and the future. It must be _really_ disconcerting for that anchor to suddenly be uprooted.

"Then ask questions."

"Okay, so let's start with the easiest one," Romanov agreed, obviously wanting to move on from the null point. "Who all knew about you and your secrets?"

"That's ... also a rather complicated question. Not as complicated as some others, but still complicated," Toni mused, leaning back in her seat and starting to count on her fingers. "Who knew about me? Generally speaking, like, _just_ knew about me? Agamotto and every Sorcerer Supreme after him, Stephen, Nick, Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, Carol, Hela, Odin, Frigga, Loki, Thor, Valkyrie, Heimdall, Helen Cho, Dr Wu, Yinsen. I told Harley and Peter a few months after they became Young Avengers. Who knew I was older than this universe? Agamotto, the other Sorcerer Supremes, Stephen, Nick, Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, Yinsen, Carol, Hela, Odin, Frigga, Loki, Thor and Heimdall. The others thought I was a ghost or something similar who had once had a physical form and died a long time ago. Who knew I'm the actual daughter of Howard Stark despite all of this? Nick, Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, Yinsen. Who knew I lived for multiple cycles and seen several universes before existing in this one? Nick, Hela, Odin, Frigga. Who knew I knew about Thanos? The Sorcerer Supremes since Agamotto, Nick, Hela, Odin, Frigga, Loki, Thor, Pepper, Happy, Yinsen, Helen, Wu, Rhodey, Carol, Valkyrie, Heimdall. Who knew just _how_ many universes I'd seen? Nick, Hela, Frigga. I alluded it to Yinsen. Who knew about the Arc Reactor? The Sorcerer Supremes, Stephen and Yinsen, though I never actually went into detail about it with any one of them. Who knew I was getting a physical body? Yinsen, Helen and Wu. Oh, and JARVIS. Never forget about JARVIS."

"Who's Jarvis?"

"That would be me, Agent Barton." Several people jumped in surprise at the amused sounding British voice coming from the ceiling. Stephen was one of them, finally breaking him out of his trance and allowing him to focus on the present. The only ones not at all deterred by the newcomers unexpected response were Thor, Loki, Rhodes, Barnes, the kids and Danvers. Even Fury had jumped up a bit and was now cursing up a storm. " i am JARVIS, or Just A Rather Very Intelligent System, created by Ms Stark in the last cycle, I was allowed to transcend into this one with her through staying within the Arc Reactor. This was the first time this had happened, so I only have recollections of the last cycle and this one. I am an Artificial Intelligence that acts as Sir's co-pilot, assistant and constant companion. My primary purpose is to assist and protect Toni Stark. Don't let my pleasant voice and currently calm disposition fool you. I can be quite vicious."

Banner arched an eyebrow at Toni, amused. "Is there any particular reason you've informed us of that, JARVIS?"

Stark grimaced, looking somewhere between amused and haunted in a single expression. "Let's just say that not in all cycles are the Avengers a united, civil, cohesive group."

"Indeed." Now everyone flinched by how cold the AI sounded. It was very Skynet.

"Um, he called you 'sir'?" Lang half asked, half pointed out, even going as far as to raise his hand as though he was in middle school. Toni arched an eyebrow.

"Do you have _any_ idea how many cycles I've seen and lived through? How many times I've changed gender? JARVIS is one my constant and I remember rebelling at the thought of him calling me anything other than 'Sir' for the longest time. The first fifty cycles are really blurry, but I do remember that much. Whether it was in order to be equal to the men in my life or because I myself was male, I don't remember so I just accepted it. Whether man or woman or transgender or simply nothing, JARVIS always calls me 'Sir'. It's easier that way."

"And _how_ many cycles have you actually lived through, Lady Stark?" Loki asked, looking her over with a critical eye. This was no doubt the first time he was seeing her with a solid body. It is understandable he is intrigued.

"Over fourteen million, and that's when she stopped counting," Fury answered for her, a distant look in his eye.

Stephen automatically corrected him with the exact number. "Fourteen million six hundred and five. Then she stopped counting."

The Director's head whipped over in his direction, his good eye zeroing in on him. "You actually know the _exact_ number? What the fuck!? She never told me and I helped her overthrow HYDRA, AIM, the Ten Rings and a dozen other secret terrorist organizations! Just what the fuck!?"

"To be fair, I only told him recently. Like, ten minutes ago recently, so don't go swearing around the kids, Nicky."

"Fuck you, Stark!"

"Language!" Rogers automatically snapped before slapping a hand over his mouth, mortified at sounding like such a grandpa. Toni just laughed, delighted, at all of their incredulous faces and the look Fury had on his, like he was so done with this shit. "Sorry. I couldn't help it this time."

Fury, apparently deciding he did not want to deal with that, turned to Stephen, scowl and glare still very much in place. Stephen was tempted to match him but remaining unimpressed would be so much better. So he just arched an eyebrow at the man in the black trench coat and silently dared him. Nick Fury, though, didn't back off from a dare, it would seem. He wasn't to be deterred. "And just why did _you_ know about the Arc Reactor? I literally thought it was just some random piece of technology that powered her suits, which she controlled with her funky magic, but now I learn it's the very vessel of her essence and _you_ somehow knew before me? Why is that?"

"Uh, because Toni told me," he was tempted to add on a ' _Duh_ ,' but refrained. There was being an asshole and then there was being childish. He preferred to not be the latter.

"Yeah, this dumbass nearly got himself killed when he stumbled upon it. Though I told him only later that it was my vessel, so it's not as though he kept the secret for long."

"And what of the other people you mentioned?" Asked T'Challa. "How did they come to know of the Arc Reactor?"

"And how, exactly, did the most advanced piece of technology known to man get mistaken as one of the most powerful magical relics in the realms?" Wong and Shuri asked right after, though there were two different versions of that question, Shuri's leaning more towards offended that technology could _ever_ be mistaken foe magic. Stephen idly wondered whether the Ancient One would thrust _her_ soul through countless dimensions to prove a point or if it was just him.

"I told them. They were involved in the construction of my body so they had to know to shift some things and leave enough space for it in my chest without it actually being an intrusive object, like it usually would be after Afghanistan." Toni ignored the questions that immediately rose at that, instead focusing on answering Wong's question. "Unfortunately, it is now both. Given it was the literal _first_ object in the universe even _before_ the Big Bang and the scattering of the Infinity Stones, and that it has housed and _still_ houses my soul, it's quite magical. The Arc Reactor is my heart, that's what I told Agamotto. He, as he had no idea what an Arc Reactor was, named it the Heart of Iron Maiden, as I had introduced myself, of course, and later on his students either were lazy to say it or didn't like the 'Maiden' part, so they just started calling it Heart of Iron. Though it's more likely that they didn't understand the need for it, given they didn't know the origin of the name. And since it was kept in Kamar-Taj, everyone just assumed it was magical. Or, well, they assumed it was _strictly_ magical."

"That doesn't explain the amount of magic it gives off."

The woman scoffed, offended. "That's pure, unadulterated Arc Reactor energy, which almost perfectly matches that of the Infinity Stones."

"Your other reactors don't," Banner pointed out and Toni scoffed again.

"Okay, _one_ , my other reactors are made with a palladium core since it's pretty much for show more than anything. Before getting out of Kamar-Taj, Iron Maiden made very few appearances and for much less tasking and shorter battles against the type of idiots I can take care of in my sleep. If I needed extra juice, I used a bit of magic or my own energy. The suit is very compatible with my own energy, really. And _two_ , besides this," she tapped the glowing device on her chest with an arched eyebrow. "Reactor was built with a Starkenium core and _millions_ of nanites that have their own mycroreactors, so of course this thing is giving off more energy than probably anything else on Earth besides the Stones. And on top of all of that, it stored my soul. Ever since the first cycle I can even vaguely remember, I always had the Arc Reactor. Whether it was in my body or just in the suits didn't matter. It was always a part of me and it always represented _me_ at my core. The future, a light that leads and holds out hope. It's me at my very essence. It's my heart, it's been _Proof That Toni Stark Has A Heart_ more often than I can count. It's what set me on this path. The world needed a hero and it got one with a flashlight in their chest. It wasn't an easy life and it was an infinitely harder existence, but I've made it. In the end, it was good. Even all those years without a body were worth it, though having JARVIS around probably kept my sanity intact while there was no one else around to talk to. Then again, I'll always have my co-pilot. It took me a few cycles to figure out how to not ever lose him and ever since I started regularly using Extemis, I could quite literally download his code into my mind, make a few modifications in the next cycle before unleashing him to be the badass ruler of the Internet that he is."

"Thank you, Sir," the AI replied, pleased with the praise.

"And what _is_ Extremis?" Shuri asked immediately, curious, catching the attention of the other kids, though only two of them were science and technological geeks as far as Stephen knew.

"It's a serum - well, it started off as a _virus_ , really, if we're going to get technical about it - that rewrites the body on a cellular level. You can quite literally regrow limbs, like Deadpool-" the anti-hero waved like a shy school girl cartoon character when they all glanced at him. "Be as strong as Spidey, Kitty Cat or Cap, pretty fast and agile and, most of all, unmatched cognitive abilities and, as I have added with much tinkering, _technopacy_. So no, Nick, I did not control my suits with 'funky magic' while I still had no physical form."

"You're saying you're the _Professor Xavior_ of machines?" One of the mutants Strange hadn't met before breathed, excited. "That is so fucking _awesome_!"

"Language!" Captain America snipped again, only to groan and bury his face in his hands. The rest were all busy snickering at his old man tendencies when his head suddenly snapped back up, giving Toni a glare. "Wait, if you've really been around since the beginning, why didn't you stop the wars? Save Bucky and your parents? Stop that 7-11 attack back in 2001? Or any other terrorist attack, for that matter? You could have stopped so many tragedies because you already knew they were going to happen! You could have cured diseases a lot earlier! You could have fought for women's rights or against slave labor! Or _HYDRA_!"

"She _did_ fight HYDRA, Captain," Fury cut in before anymore accusations could be thrown about. "They survived WWII and managed to infiltrate SHIELD at one point. We wouldn't have known had it not been for her. As it was, SHIELD was purged of our parasite in the early 2000s. And there would have been plenty _more_ terrorist attacks because Howard's business partner, Obadiah Stane, was selling weapons under the table to the highest bidder until Toni fished him out."

"As for why she didn't interfere in those other affairs you've mention, as an expert in how time functions, I'll answer in her stead." Everyone turned to look at Strange, as this was the first time he spoke up since he had trailed in after Toni in a daze. "If she had messed with random things at random points in our timeline, it was more likely that when Thanos comes, she'd be in a completely different world of which, in comparison to the one she studied through billions of cycles, she knows very little, even if she was the one who all but created it. Messing with a single point in time could have long lasting, _massive_ consequences. Sticking to how history has progressed so far would be ideal. Besides, what change would it make if, say, she pushed for women rights earlier? What would the people do when that had originally happened? A war could have very easily broken out because maybe people would be dissatisfied with something not nearly so easily resolved."

" _Easily_!?" All the women exclaimed indignantly, but Stephen just shrugged.

"It took centuries to get rid of slavery and decades to stop racism and racist tendencies in science or society. Women got their rights easier and faster than slaves did, than African-Americans did."

"That aside," Loki spoke up before they could get into an ideology debate, thankfully. "Lady Stark has been busy keeping Asgard from falling into a civil war. From what Hela told us, Lady Stark assisted her through a difficult transition and kept her from being imprisoned by our father. Lady Stark then proceeded to try and prepare us for these events, but Odin was always stubborn about it."

"Aye, my brother speaks true," Thor agreed with a nod, the other two Asgardians giving their own agreements with murmurs and nods. "Why, just six years ago, Loki was sent to Earth as Thanos' servant to bring him the Tesseract. Lady Stark was waiting for him and explained everything to me about what he had been through. We then went to Asgard and told our family that we must prepare. Finally, we could stop mourning Loki. It has been a rough time."

"Six years ago ... " Wong muttered under his breath, apparently doing the math and going through his memories. "The Ancient One was preparing for something big in 2012. She had the Eye of Agamotto and was standing on the roof of the New York Sanctum, waiting."

Toni snickered, apparently well informed of that, too. "Oh, she looked _ridiculous_. Apparently good ol' Merlin never told her that the changes I make with my action or inaction to a timeline are invisible to the Time Stone." Said emerald Stone bobbed seemingly in agreement from where they were still dancing around the woman. It was apparently hard not to stare at them for everyone but Stephen, who had until moments ago been mesmerized by his own unexpected kiss with Toni so he hadn't even noticed. He was noticing now, especially how their gentle lights played across her hair, skin and eyes. Especially her eyes. He could have _swore_ they should be a rich honey brown and yet they were still that familiar electric - or rather Arc Reactor - blue that he had always known them to be. His life was weird. "It's apparently a defense mechanism to keep my _existing_ still from Thanos should he manage to get his hands on the Stones before we can battle properly so I can still have the element of surprise when I come at him. She was not impressed with me when I went back to Kamar-Taj that night."

"I can imagine," Stephen drawled, rather well acquainted with that not impressed expression his master could pull so effortlessly at any moment. Even without his photographic memory, he had seen it enough times for it to be seared into his brain, honestly.

"So, what happens now?" Barnes asked after a moment of silence and everyone turned their attention to him. "I mean, the day is saved, the big bad defeated ... What happens now?" The question was directed straight at Toni, who was silent, listening. Considering. "Do you just ... go poof or something?"

Toni actually paused to think about it and Stephen would lie if he said he wasn't seized by a momentary fear that Toni would, indeed, go 'poof' any second now, no matter that they had a pretty similar conversation like, half an hour ago and that Toni had made it quite clear that she had no plans of dying anytime soon. Still, he was a bit nervous regarding her answer. While she might not be gone altogether, will she disappear from his life? Will he ever see her again? Sure, she had kissed him, but she hadn't said anything about it and he hadn't been in the right state or had the time needed to bring it up before they had joined the Avengers for the meeting. Will she stay in New York? Or on Earth altogether? She seems to be quite a hero in Asgard and she'll no doubt help in rebuilding Xandar and Knowhere. Stephen was the type who doesn't follow social media, like, _at all_ , which is probably why he never realized the similarities between his Toni and the Toni Stark on every form of social media the world had to offer. That, however, does not mean he's completely oblivious. There was nowhere he could go without the name 'Toni Stark' reaching his ears. He knew rather well that she paid and personally assisted in all relief efforts over the years. He had once wondered if it was an ego thing but no one who was egotistical went so much out of their way all the time just for a few photos taken and praises written, especially not when the same could be achieved by buying a cup of coffee - for Stark, at least. Now, as his brain still struggled to put all the pieces together so he can get one, clear picture, Stephen knew that could never be the reason why. It wouldn't surprise him that Toni would extend her kindness to a whole other _planet_.

Well, at least he'll always be just a portal away if he ever wants to visit her. She probably won't turn him away. Probably.

"I guess I'll just ... do what I do best. Revolutionize the world one day at a time all over again. Mentor young heroes until they're grown and ready to face the world on their own. Assist anyone who needs it. Guard the Stones. Go back to Kamar-Taj and continue shaping it as I have so far. Put protection seals on the Infinity Stones and wait for the Beyonder or some piece of shit like him to come and try to get them. Seal off their power and chunk them into Galactus' cereal bowl so as to lengthen this universe's life span by a few billion years. Mess with Doom. Finally let Hela lay in on Odin for all the crap he's put us through the years. If I get bored, I'll probably just go and punch this Dormammu in the face a few times, maybe play chess with Eternity or check up on Death. Maybe I'll even pay a visit to Mephisto! It's always fun to annoy him. He has the most _hilarious_ reactions when he realizes he can't know a single thing about me. I'll probably help rebuild Xandar and I promised Eitri and his bunch that I'll stop by some time this millennia and they're still holding me to that. Besides, I need to help _them_ rebuild. It's blasphemy that their forge is no longer lit. Fuck Thanos. Maybe I should check if there's a Clea in this universe that isn't mad? If there is, I should probably just leave so as to not get in the way of the natural course of things. Vormir would be an appropriate place for me, I think. What?" She stopped when she saw all of their expressions. Stephen guessed they must be quite a gallery of incredulity.

There were so, _so_ many questions he wanted to ask but, really, all of their minds were pretty much on the same frequency of " _What_!?"

And Toni?

Toni just laughed.

At least _someone_ was having fun.

_'Vishanti help us.'_


	19. Chapter 19

"You never did tell us how you trapped Thanos," Stephen pointed out one day when they were meditating, once again like they had two years ago, on the magical protection seal underneath Kamar-Taj, in their astral forms. It had been exactly five months since the fight with Thanos and the world had moved on surprisingly well despite the alien invasion that had happened in New York and half of the universe nearly being decimated by a mad warlord. Toni had done exactly as she said she would. She continued inventing for SI, helped all the Young Avengers and Young X-Men in their training and missions, assisted when the adult versions of both groups required help, kept on being involved in politics regarding heroes and helping Stephen run Kamar-Taj. She would occasionally slip through dimensions or go to Asgard, but she was usually back within the day, so there was no worries. She and Fury continued to run things through SHIELD and the world loved Iron Maiden more than ever after she had saved them from certain death. In fact, from what the occasional chats with the Guardians of the Galaxy told them, as well as Carol when she went up into space for this and that, the whole _universe_ was chanting Toni's name like the hero she is.

Stephen often wondered if this grateful universe was enough for all that Toni had done. For all that she has lost and sacrificed over practically numerous cycles. She was finally getting the recognition she deserved but no one but her really knew just how much she had done. No one but Toni and Thanos, that is, but Stephen rather doubted that purple nut-sack would acknowledge all the good Toni has done. The man was too obsessed with his goal that he, according to Toni, had no qualms about sacrificing his 'children' whom he 'loved' to get things he wants.

One of the reasons Toni had risked it to make sure Vormir takes no guardian for the Soul Stone and just ... left it lying there. Left it for Thanos to take it. Either way, she had done it to, apparently, save Gamora and Nebula and whoever else was unfortunate enough to be 'loved' by that monster.

"Well, no one really asked," Toni pointed out, eyes still closed and smirking when she heard him huff. Though, she _did_ have a point. No one had asked. They had just ... accepted it that she did.

"Well, I'm asking _now_. Will you answer?"

"Have I ever not answered one of your questions?" She did open her eyes this time, the light in them warm and fond and inviting. Stephen gave up on meditation and floated over to her, not resisting the urge to peck her cheeks before sitting down beside her. They both ignored the little shiver that ran through them both at the intimate contact. Apparently PDA in the Astral Plane is way more intense, though he figured that made sense. It was like their souls were touching, after all. It was an entwining of energies that can only happen through familiarity and acceptance on both sides. It was amazing that they were at that point now. It felt wonderful.

"Well, I'm all ears."

Stark just shook her head at him but started explaining. "For many cycles, I've thought I can make a prison for him using technology only. I've teamed up with all the best minds on Earth, went to other planets entirely to seek help, joined forces with the dwarves of Nivadelir and even studied under the Beyonder - who's a bit obsessed with me, now that I think about it - in hopes of making a prison strong enough to hold him. I managed more than a few times, but the problem isn't in creating a prison, it's in making it impenetrable by even time and existence. That, unfortunately, is out of the scopes of what science and technology can do. Magic, however ... " Her eyes became distant, lost in some memory even as she easily manipulated some energy into her hands and started playing with it.

Stephen often wondered what her lives were like in detail. How fast did she master magic? Why was she so against it in the first place? What made her like or tolerate it? He never quite dared ask for more than she was willing to tell him. Toni might no longer be affected by the lives she's led and the cycles she has witnessed, but everyone else was still looking at her and seeing a normal human, thinking she should be traumatized. Even Stephen sometimes makes that mistake, though he does it a lot less commonly than the others. He, at least, understands. Dormammu had killed him so many times that he had almost become used to it by the time the demon gave in. Toni had thousand times that experience. Death and PTSD are a thing of the past for her.

Doesn't mean that lets them stop worrying, though.

"Well, for all I knew, magic could do anything," Toni continued when she snapped herself partially out of her thoughts, going back to her explanation. "I didn't know much about it, but I always saw you and Loki and whatever other random sorcerer doing all these incredible things with magic, imprisoning enemies and creatures alike. I figured magic might be the answer. When I approached a Stephen Strange in this one weird cycle about it, he immediately took me in as his apprentice, only to one day just ... disappear and leave me with his Sorcerer Supreme duties. I learned later on, of course, that he had disappeared to die in peace from some illness and that he had just been ... _waiting_ for _me_. To, you know, pass on his title to someone he considered capable and worthy so he can die knowing Earth would be protected? I remember being pissed off, honored and humbled by it, but also immensely terrified. But I guess I grew used to the role and the duties. I studied and practiced and trained and when Thanos came, he was facing me as both the lovable armored hero that I am and the Sorcerer Supreme in one _strange_ mix."

Stephen rolled his eyes and Toni laughed. Now _that_ sounded _strange_ given how serious the story was. How fitting.

"Anyway, I managed to trap him that cycle in a prison very similar to the one I have him in now, only without the tech part. I lived the rest of that cycle protecting the Earth and the multiverse with magic. In the next cycle, though, when I tried the same trick but with stronger spells, I hadn't realized Thanos had taken note of how useful knowing some magic is so he had learned some himself. Though he wasn't compatible to become a sorcerer of any kind, Ebony Maw still managed to teach him how to break out of the prison I had him in the last time. Several cycles later with all sort of trail and error, I realized combining magic and technology was the answer. But I just left him to die in his prison, which won't be happening this time. Thanos may be removed from all of existence in that little sphere I made, but he still exists and the scales of universal balance are set. The prison will travel trough cycles like Thanos has been doing so far, undisturbed, but he will never be able to escape or have any influence on anything ever again."

"How many cycles of trail and error did it actually take for you to figure all of this out?" The impressed and disturbed sorcerer asked with a worried frown on his face. Toni just pecked his cheek to get rid of his concern, which always managed to get a blush out of Stephen and the shiver through both their astral forms.

"I didn't count."

"Oh, yes you did."

But Toni just smiles and shakes her head. "Does it really matter?"

Stephen paused to really think about it, considering all the things Toni had told him so far for his answer. In the months since they reconciled, the woman had been telling him bits and pieces of her former lives, where and when she learned, mastered or read some things, how she invented this or that or what caused certain ideas to aspire. Even if she was telling him enough to fill up only one normal human lifetime, it was still quite impressive, making Strange wonder just how many more wondrous or horrifying stories hid behind every one she told him. Fourteen million six hundred and five cycles was a lot already and Toni often pointed out she had stopped counting a _long_ time ago, as it was getting pointless and blurry. Maybe she did it to save her own sanity? It wouldn't surprise him. Toni had spent a lot of time alone. Counting would only drive that home harder than it already was.

"No, I guess not," he conceded, letting the matter go. There was no use pondering questions not even Toni could answer in confidence. It would be an exercise in futility and would only strain their interactions for the rest of the day. "I guess I just worry about you."

And there was that beautiful smile again that Stephen had long ago realized he'd do anything to see it again. Honestly, the past five months have only made him even more of a lovesick fool. Wong immensely enjoyed these endless opportunities to tease him. "You really don't have to. This is far from the first time I've lived through or talked about these things. I've spent a small eternity waiting for living organisms to be born going through all of my memories to try and figure out what was safe for me to interfere with and what could end in disaster. For all that I'm currently training with you in magic and meditating with you, Stephen, I'm still a scientist at heart." His eyes automatically slid down to where her chest glowed the brightest. Her astral form still retained that same Arc Reactor blue hue she had since Stephen met her. The only new thing about her astral form was the six pinpricks of color that stuck to her right hand like glue. The Infinity Stones were always with her one way or another. It was a lesson hard learned, by many individuals. By himself many times over, when he wants to indulge with his girlfriend, and many times by the Avengers when they wanted to spend time with her - either productively or to waste it - but the Stones wished for her to meditate with them or pay attention to them. For all that they were artifacts of infinity power, they sure as hell acted like jealous, needy children. He wasn't sure if that was disturbing or amusing. At least the Time Stone was more ... reasonable about it, most often staying within the Eye of Agamotto as it has for the past millions of years. "I know experiments and tests are a necessary part of the process of learning and discovering new things. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it in the end."

Stephen just deposited another kiss to her, this time on the lips, feeling her smile against him. Oh yes, happiness looked _good_ on Toni Stark. "I guess it's just the doctor side of me that never quite died."

Iron Maiden actually snickers at that like a naughty little girl, obviously delighted and amused. "Oh, don't worry. Yinsen is the same. I think it's cute. Although, I have to say, Doc, you make it _hot_."

Right, Yinsen. Focusing on the other most important doctor in Toni's life helped him keep a blush from crawling up his neck to color his entire face. Stephen had met the man, and Dr Wu and Dr Cho, not a week after Toni wiped the floor with Thanos. With his nice, calm smile, steady and kind voice and earnest eyes behind thin glasses, one would never assume he helped Iron Maiden escape from the Ten Rings in Afghanistan. Sure, Toni had magic and her actual armor all the time, but she needed Yinsen close so the two made friends and Toni got them out. She returned the man to his family and the two practically _became_ family. Ho Yinsen was up there, right next to Rhodes, Ms Potts and Mr Hogan, though maybe even more so. Toni had told him, like, fifteen different versions of how Yinsen sacrificed himself for her to make sure she survives in past cycles and not all were in Afghanistan. Yinsen knew this, too, knew how guilty she felt regardless of how many times she'd lived through it or that he was alive now. As such, in turn, he was very protective of her. Stephen had gotten many different shovel talks and threats to his life or manhood, ranging from Pepper Potts' promise of erasing him from the face of the Earth to Peter Parker's and Harley Keener's Kill Mode, but not even JARVIS threat of destroying Kamar-Taj should he hurt Toni or break her heart could match how afraid it made him when Yinsen just smiled at him and told him a simple 'Don't'. As a doctor himself, he knew a doctor could cause the biggest amount of damage to make you suffer. Not a master spy, not the Winter Soldier, not the Hulk, not a bunch of Asgardians - well, at least not if you knew magic, anyway - but a _doctor_. And this doctor had helped blow up a terrorist cell. The worst the rest could do was kill you. A doctor could unmake you in ways people can't even _imagine_. It's why they swore the Hippocratic Oath.

"Thinking about the scare he gave you?" Toni teased, breaking him out of his dark thoughts, laughing at his offended face. "Don't worry, Strange. I like you enough that he won't do anything to you."

"That's not what he promised," he muttered darkly to himself but couldn't really sulk properly with Toni laughing beside him. It was hopeless. _He_ was utterly hopeless against her. They lapsed into a comfortable silence and just enjoyed each other's presence and the humming of magic around them. Even with Thanos gone, they still had a lot of things to worry about, so calm days like these were exceptionally rare. Stephen was still Sorcerer Supreme and the Master of the New York Sanctum. Toni was still Toni Stark. They had so many responsibilities on a good day that it was a miracle they could set aside some time for simple meditation and for each other. Stephen had many dimensions to worry about, Mordo and Kaecilius' bunch were hardly the only rogue sorcerers and then there's Avengers' business. Toni had SI to worry about, her seemingly numerous charities, Asgard and Kamar-Taj and also Avengers' business, not to mention a bunch of kids she had taken under her wing, two supersoldiers from the 40s _still_ getting used to the brave new world they lived in, a spy organization to keep in check, relations with Wakanda, the UN and the Accords Council to maintain and, as expected, the rebuilding of Xandar and Knowhere with the help of the Infinity Stones. Not to mention that she and Cho had built another body for an android - or synthezoid, as Toni insisted on calling him - named Vision, who now housed the Mind Stone in his forehead. He was like a child in a grown man's body and rational thinking but he was so _innocent_ and naive to the harsher truths of the world that Stephen _still_ didn't know what to really think of him or how to treat him. And on top of mothering said Mind Stone totting android, Toni was still going randomly off planet to do stuff. She always told him what but Stephen always feared she'll just not come back one day. A reasonable fear, in his opinion. It _had_ happened once already and he would rather not like a repeat of it.

He shifted a bit when Toni started getting up, frowning as she stretched unnecessarily. "Going somewhere?"

She shrugged her shoulders, rolling her head as though to get rid of muscular tension she can't get cramps from in her astral projection. "Yeah. Agreed to a game of chess and tea and biscuits with Eternity. I gotta head out soon if I don't want to be late."

"You've been spending a lot of time with her as of late," he observed, standing also and deciding to be a brat by hugging Toni close and not letting go. As though that would actually keep her in place if she didn't want to be there. "I'm starting to get curious what two ancient ladies like you could be talking about all the time." He pressed a kiss behind her ear and they, once again, both enjoyed the shudder that ran through him. Such light, intimate touches caused such a bold reaction ... Stephen couldn't help but let his mind go straight to the gutter, contemplating how intense intercourse would be in the Astral Plane.

"Okay, intercourse, _really_?" Damn, had he said that out loud? At least Toni just sounded amused instead of insulted or something. "What century are you from? And this is coming from a girl who's seen them all, so don't even. And you do know you could come with, right? Eternity's met a few of your counterparts in past cycles. She'd love to meet you."

"Don't blame me for being a gentleman. And don't even start with me on that, either. I've had Rogers ask me one too many times do we _fondue_." As expected, Toni cackled. He wondered if it was some sort of inside joke he wasn't aware of. He didn't see what bread and cheese had to do with sex. He'll have to get Toni to explain that to him once. Or Rogers. Or Barnes. "As for meeting Eternity, I guess I wouldn't mind? But I've been meaning to ask you something regarding that, actually. You said only you and Thanos had any knowledge of what's been going on in previous cycles. I mean, not even a demon removed from time itself knows anything about it. But here you come and tell me Eternity wants to meet this version of me. How can she remember my other iterations if only Thanos and you get to keep your memories."

"It's elementary, dear doctor," she says in her best British accents that's perhaps too hot for his or her own good. "Eternity, Infinity and the One Above All aren't beings made from the same energies as the multiverse is. They get to exist outside of it. They are immortal. Different dimensions get destroyed and recreated all the time but these guys aren't bound to any dimension or even the multiverse. The Beyonder and sometimes Galactus, depending on how a universe goes, get caught up in the multiverse so they get reborn with us but with no memories. Thanos and I were an exception made by the Infinity Stones and perhaps fate and destiny themselves. They wanted a better ending, I guess. They judged one of us can get that."

"Or they're just assholes who wanted to see you struggle." The Time Stone pulsed in displeasure at that, somehow offended, but neither genius spared it a glance.

"I think it was more of an experiment," Toni shrugs, nonplussed and unimpressed. "Thanos and I were polar opposites yet so similar. They probably wanted to see how a confrontation would end between us. Who would win and who would lose. But they had to fix things when Thanos went and screwed them over by Snapping the Stones away with their own power. That upset the balance Thanos loved so much, as well as the sudden whipping out of half of the whole universe. The people got brought back but the Stones stayed gone for good. That universe collapsed in on itself and so the cycle of cycles began."

"That's just messed up."

Toni nodded in agreement but seemed content to drop the matter. Stephen was more than glad to indulge her. He'd rather not get a headache while trying to figure out the motives and agendas of eternal beings. "So, you up to meeting Eternity? You don't have to ... "

Stephen paused only long enough for them to return to their bodies back up in his rooms in Kamar-Taj before replying. "I guess it couldn't hurt. And I _am_ kind of bored. It's been really quiet around here since Thanos."

And, as if he had just jinxed them, the great bell that Kamar-Taj used to issue a warning about mystical and interdimensional threats rang three times, loudly enough for everyone to hear, even the Sanctum Masters through the gateways that led to their Sanctums. At the same time, the phone Toni carried around so as not to freak out people when she seemed to do a search on random things with Extremis and JARVIS lit up and a hologram popped up, projecting the image of New York being overrun by some strange burning skeletons on motorbikes.

"You just had to open your big mouth," Toni was only half joking, already suiting up even as Stephen opened a portal as she called for the Avengers to assemble and take care of the threat.

"I guess you'll be late for tea after all."

She just smiled and took his hand, more gentle than one would think her capable of in those powerful hydraulic gloves and the super strength she herself had. "We have time."

And for the first time, as they walked through the portal together, Stephen decided that was enough.

**THE END**


End file.
